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

SECTION 2 – NEWS

Support for victims of crime
The Home Secretary’s consultation paper on compensation and support for victims of crime was welcomed today by Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson.

The majority of the proposals in the consultation will relate to England and Wales only.  Ms Jamieson stressed that the Executive has already made great progress in helping victims of crime in Scotland through the Scottish Strategy for Victims.

However, the Minister today confirmed that the Executive would look at the merits of further measures – such as a surcharge on offenders – as part of the ongoing reforms of the justice system in Scotland.

The proposals in the consultation paper that would apply to Scotland are those affecting the GB Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.  These are:

·         Payment of compensation to those traumatised on seeing people commit suicide on a railway line and those injured accidentally in taking an exceptional risk in dealing with crime.  In 2002-03 out of a total of 4,912 successful cases handled by the CICS, 11 were in relation to railway suicides.

·         A proposal to transfer responsibility for compensating workers injured during the course of duty from the CICS to their employer. 

The Consultation Paper is available on the Home Office Website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Full story

“Restorative practices” for school disruption
A new scheme to make unruly pupils and bullies face up to their disruptive behaviour was announced today.

Restorative practice pilots in North Lanarkshire, Highland and Fife are aimed at helping disruptive pupils take responsibility for their actions, understand the consequences of their behaviour and apologise to others. 

Staff will be trained to help pupils use negotiation and mediation techniques themselves and schools will involve parents wherever appropriate. 

Examples of restorative practices which might be used in the pilot areas include:

·         Peer Mediation
In cases of bullying or a dispute between pupils, a trained pupil mediator helps the parties involved in the dispute to agree what has happened, what harm has been done and what can be done to put things right.  The emphasis is on apologising, putting the difficulty in the past and agreeing a way forward.

·         Adult Mediation
In cases of serious disputes between pupils, pupils and teachers, or parents and teachers, a trained adult facilitator (usually a member of school staff not involved in the dispute) hears from both sides what has happened and reaches agreement with them about what has gone wrong, what harm has been done and what can be done to put things right.  The emphasis is on apologising, putting the difficulty in the past and agreeing a way forward.

·         Restorative Conferencing
In cases of ongoing disputes, a trained facilitator involves all parties in a formal conference to agree a solution in which the wrongdoer acknowledges the impact of their actions and apologises to those affected.  All parties agree a strategy to put the difficulty behind them.  This practice could be used either to avoid exclusion or as part of re-integration following exclusion. 

Restorative practice has been used successfully in the justice system for some time.  Last week, Minister for Justice Cathy Jamieson announced that the number of places for young offenders on restorative justice projects would be doubled in the next two years.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

Chamber business on WEDNESDAY begins with and Executive debate on Developing a Sexual Health and Relationship Strategy for Scotland.

Proposals for a national sexual health strategy were put out to consultation last November.  The consultation, which runs until 27^th February 2004, seeks views on a paper entitled Enhancing Sexual Wellbeing in Scotland: A Sexual Health and Relationships Strategy which was prepared by an Expert Reference Group, chaired by Professor Phil Hanlon.

The strategy aims:

·         To reduce unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections;

·         To enhance the provision of sexual health services; and

·         To promote a broad understanding of sexual health and sexual relationships that encompasses emotions, attitudes and social context.

Copies of the consultation are available online at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/health/esws.pdf

The day concludes with a Member’s Business debate on Social Work Review from the SNP’s Brian Adam.

THURSDAY morning begins with a European and External Relations Committee debate on the European Commission’s Work Programme for 2004.

The motion asks the Parliament to note the publication of the European Commission’s work programme for 2004, which is dominated by the enlargement of the European Union, and agree that the programme contains a number of measures which will be of importance to Scotland.

Next year will be an eventful one for the EU with the accession of ten new member states and European parliamentary elections.  With such a busy year in prospect, and in view of the fact that 2004 will be the last year of the Prodi Commission (a new Commission will take office from 1 November 2004), the Commission claims it has drafted a realistic, focused, and deliverable legislative and work programme for 2004.

The Commission’s priorities for 2004 are:

• The accession of new member states
• Stability
• Sustainable Growth

1. The Accession of New Member States
The Commission’s principal objective is to ensure the smooth accession and integration of the ten new member states that will join the Union on 1 May 2004. In addition to the necessary internal administrative preparations, this involves adapting existing programmes to the new members and ensuring the application of all existing Community legislation (known as the acquis) in the new member states.  Key areas will include agriculture, food safety, the environment, maritime and nuclear safety, justice and home affairs (notably the Schengen space and external border control) and of course the internal market. Furthermore, the Commission will have to prepare a new financial perspective for beyond 2006 as the current proposals for major spending programmes are only valid until then. The Commission is already looking beyond the present “wave” of enlargement and negotiations, monitoring and analysis of further candidates for accession will proceed throughout 2004: Accession negotiations will continue with Romania and Bulgaria, while Turkey and Croatia’s membership bids will be further analysed.

2. Stability
The Commission seeks to promote stability both internally and externally through a handful of key initiatives. Internally, the so-called Tampere Agenda (from the Tampere European Council, October 1999) to create a “European area of freedom, security and justice” by 1 May 2004 will be completed and evaluated. An external border management agency and a second generation Schengen Information System database will be priorities and cooperation programmes with third countries on migration will be pursued. Finally, the Commission intends to draw up a policy on security of communications and information networks. Externally, the Commission will attempt to bolster stability in neighbouring regions by using the carrot of limited access to the Single Market to entice countries in Eastern Europe and on the Mediterranean Rim to effect appropriate economic and political reforms. Partnership Agreements will also be pursued with Russia, the Ukraine, and potentially with the Balkans.

3. Sustainable Growth
Sustainable growth is of course a longstanding priority, notably in the context of the 2000 Lisbon Strategy. The Commission will make its customary Spring Report on economic matters to the European Council but it also proposes to review the EU’s Sustainable Development Strategy (adopted at Gothenburg in 2001) and to implement EU water and energy initiatives announced at the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. As regards growth, the Commission intends to focus on investment in networks and knowledge. It intends to develop European transport, energy and other infrastructure networks to increase the “interconnectivity” of the enlarged EU’s economy. Preparations for the Galileo satellite will be advanced to improve traffic management and energy infrastructure monitoring. The eEurope 2005 initiative will be reviewed and adjusted to promote the development and use of a secure broadband infrastructure across Europe. Investment in knowledge will be achieved through further development of the European Research Area with a view to achieving the 3% of GDP target for investment in R & I. The human resources aspect will also be addressed in an attempt to attract more talented personnel into the field. As regards the sustainability of any such growth, the Commission also proposes action on the environmental and social fronts. It will present a Communication on the use of economic instruments to protect the environment. It will continue to present thematic strategies on themes such as soil, pesticides, waste prevention and recycling, and it wishes to support the development of new energy-saving technologies. It will also put forward an action plan on environment and health 2004-2010. Socially, it intends to implement the second half of the Social Policy Agenda it revised in June 2003. Sustainable growth will also have an external aspect as the Commission continues to promote sustainable development in third countries around the world through the WTO and bilateral negotiations and agreements.

For the enthusiast, there is a helpful paper on the work programme amongst the Papers for meeting of the European Committee on 2nd December 2003. It is to be found in Annex E of paper EU/S2/03/8/4 (page 55 of the .pdf file).

This is followed by First Minister’s Question Time.

In the afternoon, after Question Time, there is an Executive debate on Protection of Emergency Workers.

An issue which has been troubling MSPs for some time, a consultation on proposed legislation to give emergency workers statutory protection was launched last month.

The proposed legislation would make it an offence to assault, obstruct or hinder emergency workers or anyone helping them in an emergency situation. It would also apply to hoax emergency calls.

At the time of the consultation launch, the Executive said it would also work with trades unions and other stakeholders to bring forward a wider package of measures to underline that attacks on public service and other workers are totally unacceptable. This, it said, is likely to include increased use of CCTV, partnership working, training and awareness and educational campaigns.

In the Partnership Agreement, A Partnership for a Better Scotland, the Executive made a pledge to reduce crime and combat the anti-social behaviour that threatens communities. An important part of this was the Executive’s commitment to protect emergency workers from assault and obstruction. During summer 2003, the Executive held a number of meetings with trade unions and professional bodies to discuss the best way to achieve this goal.

Steps have already been taken to reinforce protection of public service workers under the common law, following a debate in the Parliament in February 2003. The Lord Advocate has issued guidance to procurators fiscal, which has underlined that such attacks should be treated very seriously - the fact that a worker is assaulted whilst providing a service to the public is treated as an aggravating factor to be taken into account in deciding whether to prosecute in the summary court or on indictment. 

In the past, because of the unusual demands and circumstances of their work, specific provisions have been made in statute law covering assault on, or obstruction of, police officers.  The Executive proposes to include new provisions extending equivalent protection to fire-fighters in the Fire Services Bill to be introduced to the Scottish Parliament this year.

The Executive believes that the particular demands of working in emergency situations justify the extension of a level of protection in these situations equivalent to that offered by the Police (Scotland) Act to emergency workers and anyone assisting them.  As well as the special position of the emergency services, the Executive also recognises that, in the immediacy of an emergency situation, it may not be just members of these services who respond but that they may be assisted by others caught up in that situation. The Executive therefore proposes to cover not only emergency workers but any person assisting them in emergency situations.

The day is rounded off with a Member’s Debate on Medical Services in the West Highlands from the Lib Dems’ George Lyon.

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