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

SECTION 2 – NEWS

Communities gain more say on off-licences
Local communities are to be given more rights to object to the granting of off-sales licences to prevent them becoming the focus of antisocial behaviour.

Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, today announced a package of measures to control the spread of off-licences to make it more difficult for children to buy alcohol illegally. The Executive was also publishing the Report of an expert working group to improve the regulation of off-licences.

Under new licensing proposals to be published this year, the Executive will:

·         Give more local people the rights and information to make objections and representations before an off-sales licence is granted;

·         Prevent the proliferation of off-licences by requiring licensing boards to make an assessment of overprovision and, where necessary, blocking off-licence applications in antisocial behaviour ‘hot spots’;

·         Endorse and promote a national ‘no proof no sale’ initiative and work towards ensuring that all off-licences operate such a policy; and

·         Protect children and young people by requiring all licensed premises to ‘opt in’ to access arrangements for children.

In addition, the Lord Advocate will be exploring with stakeholders whether there is scope for extending test purchasing to alcohol in light of the tobacco test purchasing pilots.

Full story

New rights for home owners
Changes to Scotland's property law which will benefit private home owners were unveiled today. 

The Tenements (Scotland) Bill aims to grant new rights to over 1.4 million home-owners living in tenements and buildings such as modern flats and high rise blocks, ensuring a fairer deal when it comes to the repair and maintenance of their homes.

The proposed new law will close loopholes in existing laws, which can result in essential repair work on private properties being postponed for years or in some cases, never being done at all.

Under the existing system, the conditions of management and maintenance of tenement buildings are usually set out in the title deeds of the property.  Where this is not the case, a default common law has been developed by the courts to fill the gap.  In practice, this has meant that unanimity is required for any repair or maintenance work on shared parts of the property, sometimes resulting in repair work on the entire property being delayed or even thwarted by a single resident.

The main purpose of the new Bill is to modernise the common law rules and to clarify who owns which part of a tenement.  It aims to create a fairer system of shared responsibility for maintenance of tenement buildings and to introduce a statutory system of management of tenements, where these are not set out in the title deeds.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

Chamber business on WEDNESDAY begins with a Ministerial Statement on A Housing Standard for the 21^st Century.

The contents will not be known until the Minister makes the statement to Parliament.  However, it is possible that it will elaborate on the plans, outlined in the News section above, to reform the law of the tenement.

The key changes the Tenements (Scotland) Bill seeks to introduce are:

·         Every tenement will have a management scheme to set out the basic framework for maintenance and management of the tenement.  Often the title deeds will set this out. But when they don't, the provision of the Tenement Management Scheme (introduced by the Bill) will apply. For instance, if the title deeds don't specify how the cost of maintenance is to be divided, the Tenement Management Scheme will apportion the costs between the owners (in most cases they will pay an equal share).  Another example of this could be if the title deeds don't specify how decisions are to be reached, the Tenement Management Scheme will set out how this is to be done.

·         Majority decision making will apply where no decision making procedure is provided for in the title deeds.  In other words, if the majority in a property decide to have repairs or maintenance work carried out, the minority will be obliged to pay their share.  Improvement, as distinct from maintenance, works will still be subject to unanimous agreement, unless they are incidental to any maintenance works.  

·         The Tenement Management Scheme will include a list called 'scheme property'.  This will mean that unless the title deeds say otherwise (for example if they state that a business taking up a larger space in the tenement should pay more), every owner will be obliged to contribute, in most cases equally, to the cost of maintaining the most important parts of the tenement – such as the roof and the external walls.

The Bill also contains provisions on a number of other aspects of tenement management, including ensuring emergency access for repair work, compulsory insurance and the liability of incoming home-owners for repairs.

This is followed by a debate on a Sewel Motion (which allows Westminster to legislate on devolved issues) on the UK Energy Bill.

This Westminster Bill affects the Scottish Executive insofar as it proposes to give the Executive additional powers to oversee the activities of the nuclear industry in Scotland.

The Bill will establish the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to take strategic responsibility for cleaning-up sites currently owned by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL).   It will be required to have full regard to environmental protection, safety, security, value for money and the promotion of public confidence through openness and transparency. The Executive will share powers with Westminster to direct the NDA in its activities in Scotland (hence the need for a Sewel motion).

The day concludes with a Member’s Business debate on Photodynamic Therapy for the Treatment of Wet Age Related Macular Degeneration from Labour’s Kate Maclean.

THURSDAY morning sees two debates from the Conservative Party on Police Accountability and The Scottish Economy.

As is usual with opposition debates, the motions have not yet been published, leaving the exact focus of the debate unclear. The full text of both motions, however, will be published in the Business Bulletin in due course.

This is followed by First Minister’s Question Time.

In the afternoon, after Question Time, there is an Executive Debate on the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2004.

An annual occurrence, this is essentially the opportunity for the Parliament to formally confirm the allocations being given to Local Authorities.  Over the next two years, local authorities in Scotland will receive £7.667 billion in 2004-05 and £7.992 billion in 2005-06.  These figures represent year-on-year increases of £381.9 million or 5.2% and £324 million or 4.2%.

For full details of the 2004-05 and 2005-06 funding allocations, see: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2003/12/SEFD316.aspx

The day is rounded off with a Member’s Debate on Tax Stamps on Scotch Whisky Products from the Conservatives’ Brian Monteith.

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