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

SECTION 2 – NEWS

Home Reading grants available
Schools and community groups throughout Scotland were today urged to apply for a share of £300,000 which has been earmarked to improve literacy by promoting home reading.

The cash has been allocated as part of the Executive’s Home Reading Initiative, Read Together, to provide start-up funding for local projects which support children’s reading.

Application forms are available from the Scottish Executive Education Department, Branch 1, 2A, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ or by calling 0131 244 0080. The deadline for applications is March 31^st.

Full story

Funding for money advice
New services to help people deal with debt will start from April. An extra £4 million will fund the free and confidential money advice services.

New services will target a number of vulnerable groups, such as ethnic minority communities and lone parents, to help them deal with debt and other financial difficulties. The money will be also be used to support the implementation of the Debt Arrangement Scheme, which comes into force later this year.

The new funding will see £2 million pounds allocated to support a number of projects targeting specific groups. Evidence has shown that some people do not or cannot access money advice for reasons such as language or cultural sensitivities, accessibility and availability.

The new projects start in April and will run for two years.

·         A JobCentre Plus ‘Pathways to Work’ pilot in Renfrew, Inverclyde and Argyll & Bute, will receive cash for targeted money advice to help people manage their money as they move into employment.

·         Another project will target those who are the victims of loansharks. The DTI announced a crackdown on loansharks in Scotland in December, to be run by Glasgow Trading Standards. Work will be undertaken to provide advice and support to those who have fallen foul of illegal moneylenders.

·         A project for ethnic minority communities will be set up in Glasgow. This will involve Glasgow City Council and representatives of ethnic minority groups, working together to improve access to money advice.

·         A project run by One Parent Families Scotland and One Plus for lone parents will provide money advice for those who have to run a household on one income.

·         City of Edinburgh Council will develop advice services for young people.

·         The Action Group will work to tailor money advice services to meet the needs of those with Learning Disabilities.

·         The Scottish Association for Mental Health will address the specific issues which concern those with mental health problems.

The Executive also contributes to funding the National Debtline telephone advice service. The public can access free, impartial money advice by calling 0808 808 4000.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

Chamber business on WEDNESDAY begins with the Stage 1 debate of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Bill.

The Bill proposes a new duty on local authorities to provide for the additional support needs of children. Its main purpose is to make provision for extra assistance in connection with the school education of children and young persons with additional support needs.

It has been backed by the Parliament's Education Committee, whose Stage 1 report was published on Friday.  The Committee, however, was particularly concerned that:

·         Training and support for teachers and school managers should be adequate;

·         Shortages of therapists and other professionals should be tackled; and

·         Bureaucracy and paperwork should be as streamlined as possible.

Click here to read the Committee’s report in full
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 Food for Good from Green, Mark Ballard.

THURSDAY morning is largely given over to an Executive debate on Modernising the Court System – A New Supreme Court.

Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd QC, summed up the proposals for the establishment of a UK Supreme Court at a Law Society of Scotland event focusing on proposed constitutional reforms last Wednesday as “a modern solution for a modern government.”  The Lord Advocate also emphasised the need for everyone involved in the legal system to be forward thinking in considering this issue and underlined his belief in the need for continued modernisation.

At the moment, Scottish civil appeal cases go from the Court of Session to the House of Lords – part, of course, of the country’s legislature.  In the interests of the separation of powers, therefore, the Department for Constitutional Affairs plans to set up a UK Supreme Court which will replace the House of Lords sitting as an appeal court.

The Executive issued its response to the plans last November and welcomes the proposal, saying it would ensure that Scotland’s constitutional position is maintained. The Executive believes that the creation of the UK Supreme Court would respect the unique nature of the Scottish justice system. 

There has been some controversy over whether the proposals are compatible with the Treaty of Union.  The Lord Advocate, however, has dismissed these claims, saying: “It is unsound in law and judgement to argue that the Supreme Court would be incompatible with the Treaty of Union.”

This is followed by First Minister’s Question Time.

In the afternoon, after Question Time, MSPs debate the Budget (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1.

An annual occurrence, the Budget Bill represents the final stage of the annual budget process.  Exceptionally keen readers will have noted that, in the week before Christmas, the Finance Committee led a debate on its report on the Budget Process. (The penultimate stage.)

In this report, the Committee:

• Recognises the difficulties over the agreed timetable for scrutiny and will take account of this problem in its ongoing discussions with the Executive over rationalising the budget process;
• Calls for greater clarity in future EYF announcements;
• Recommends that the Executive reconsiders the relative priority being given to operating over capital expenditure in the Spending Review 2004;
• Recommends that the Executive reconsider its approach to setting priorities and funding them, and that it considers the concerns put forward in this report in that review;
• (As last year) welcomes the continuing improvement in the provision of financial information in the budget documents;
• Approves in principle the broad areas of reform to the AER and recommends that the Executive continues to discuss the detail of such changes with the Committee over the intervening period;
• Recommends that the Executive evaluates the impact of targets in practice including assessing the delivery of improvements to public services, with a view to rationalising and simplifying the process, prior to the Spending Review 2004;
• Recommends that the policy and financial assumptions underpinning the Health and Local Government budgets and grant formulae, should be made explicit in the Draft Budget; and
• Recommends, with reference to the SPCB, that data on trade packages is presented in a more comprehensive format.

Click here to read the Bill as introduced
Click here to read the accompanying documents

The day is rounded off with a Member’s Debate on Public Consultation on Private Prisons from the SNP’s Fiona Hyslop.

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