Scottish Parliament e-Brief, Issue 178

Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 178, 17^th November 2003

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

Wednesday 19^th November 2003
14:35 – 17:00	Stage 1 Debate: Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Bill
17:00 – 17:30	Member’s Business: Fairtrade (Sarah Boyack (LAB))

Thursday 20^th November 2003
09:30 – 10:45	SSP Debate: World Peace
10:45 – 12:00	SSP Debate: Poverty in Scotland
12:00 – 12:30	First Minister's Question Time
14:30 – 15:10	Question Time
15:10 – 17:00	Executive Debate: Progress in Respect of Fuel Poverty in Scotland
17:00 – 17:30	Member’s Business: Review of Maternity Services in Glasgow (Sandra White (SNP))

IN COMMITTEE
This week’s likely highlights in the Committee Corridors include:

Tuesday 18^th November 2003
AM	Procedures	Members continue to look at Oral questions in the Chamber, with evidence from Minister for Parliamentary Business, Patricia Ferguson, before considering possible options for prioritising Non-Executive Bills.
	Standards	Following Tricia Marwick’s resignation, the Committee will choose a new Convener.
	Enterprise and Culture	The Scottish Solutions Inquiry continues, with evidence from Deputy Minster for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Lewis Macdonald and his officials. The Committee will also consider a paper on the structure and timetable for its Inquiry into renewable energy.
PM	European and External Relations	Members discuss an options paper on the possible use in Scotland of all postal voting in the next elections to the European Parliament.
Wednesday 19^th November 2003
AM	Environment and Rural Development	Stage 1 evidence on the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill comes from a range of witnesses, including animal welfare groups, the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association and the Police.
	Education	Stage 1 evidence on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill comes from two panels: the first features representatives of senior management in education and social work and the second comprises representatives of interested professional bodies, such as the National Association of Paediatric Occupational Therapists.
	Justice 1	On the subject of sentencing and early release from prison, the Committee will take evidence from legal academics and Scottish Executive officials.
	Communities	Stage 1 evidence on the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill comes from a range of Scottish Executive officials.

SECTION 2 – NEWS

Tourism spending up 10%
Tourism - now one of the fastest growing parts of the Scottish economy - can become one of the leading drivers of economic development in Scotland over the next decade, Tourism Minister Frank McAveety told industry leaders today.

The Minister was speaking at the annual Scotland United conference in Glasgow as the latest tourism figures, from January to July this year, showed 10% growth in spending. UK figures overall have dropped by 1%.

Scotland United is a partnership between the British Hospitality Association, the Scottish Tourism Forum, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Full story

Doors Open Days success
Volunteers have been commended for their work to open some of Scotland’s finest buildings and archaeological treasures to the public.

The co-ordinators of Doors Open Days in Scotland and Scottish Archaeology Month help to provide free access to a wide range of buildings and archaeological sites, both historic and contemporary, which are not normally open to the public.

Last year, over 200,000 people visited 633 buildings during Door Open Days, making it one of the largest participative events in the country.

To thank the volunteers, First Minister Jack McConnell invited them to his official residence at Bute House.

Doors Open Days in Scotland is a model for the rest of Europe. Scotland was one of the first countries to participate back in 1990 and the event has now spread to 48 European nations.

In Scotland, the event is held over weekends throughout September rather than on a single day. Historic Scotland’s approach allows many more people to explore Scotland’s fascinating buildings and archaeological sites.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY sees Stage 1 of the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Bill.

Introduced by Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, on 23^rd June 2003, the Bill seeks to give better protection and assistance to vulnerable witnesses, such as children and people with mental disorders, when giving evidence in court.

In particular, the Bill encourages greater use of special measures in court for these witnesses. Such measures will include the use of screens, giving evidence by television link, the use of a supporter in the courtroom and the ability to give evidence on commission.

The Justice 2 Committee endorsed the general principles of the bill in its Stage 1 report earlier this month. However, it did make a number of recommendations in relation to the detail of the Bill. These include:

Some of the most vulnerable adult witnesses should be given more automatic right to the use of special measures;
The option should be available for vulnerable witnesses to be able to apply to give evidence using special measures. The Bill currently requires this to be done by the party acting on behalf of the witness; and
Supporters to vulnerable witnesses should also be allowed to be witnesses in the case. The Bill currently does not allow this to happen.

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 Fairtrade from Labour’s, Sarah Boyack.

THURSDAY morning begins with two debates from the SSP on World Peace and Poverty in Scotland.

As is normal for opposition debates, the motions have not yet been published. Therefore, asides from what is obvious from the titles, the precise focus of both debates is unclear.

As always, the motions will be published in the Business Bulletin in due course and the full transcript of the debates will be available in the Official Report on Friday.

This is followed by First Minister’s Question Time.

In the afternoon, after Question Time, there is an Executive debate on Fuel Poverty.

Fuel poverty (i.e. not being able to afford to heat your home properly as doing so would take over than 10% of your income) was one of the first issues which the Scottish Parliament aimed to tackle.

For example, it launched programmes such as the £7.5 million warm deal and an ambitious central heating programme. By March 2006, 70,000 householders will have received free central heating and insulation – worth around £2500 per household - and, as at last March, 160,000 houses had received insulation through warm deal, exceeding the Programme for Government target by more than 50%

It is likely, however, that this debate will focus on the Scottish House Condition Survey 2002, which was published at the end of last week.

This survey, published by Communities Scotland, provides a detailed analysis of the quality of Scotland's 2.1 million houses. It shows that the number of Scottish households living in fuel poverty has halved in the past six years. The number of fuel poor households has gone from 738,000 in 1996 to 262,000 in 2002 in a direct comparison or 369,000 under the newer definition used in the Fuel Poverty Statement published in August 2002.

There are a number of reasons for this reduction, including lower fuel costs, higher incomes as a result of tax and benefit changes and improved energy efficiency as a result of programmes such as the warm deal.

Click here for the Scottish House Condition Survey 2002

The day closes with a Member’s Debate on the Review of Maternity Services from the SNP’s Sandra White.

[ HOME ] [ News ] [ Report to the People ] [ Interact ] [ Links ] [ E-Mail ]

[ Copyright ] [ UK Online ] [ Scottish Parliament ]

Previous Page