Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 243, 25th April 2005

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

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

SECTION 2 - NEWS

Full Story

Improvements to student advice services
Better information and advice on funding for learners will be available to people across Scotland.

While a concise, straightforward overview of the type of support available has already been published, work has now begun on setting up a new national telephone helpline which will be the first point of contact for anyone looking for advice on what funding may be available to them.

Along with the overview of funding and telephone helpline, the measures include:

• Improving the existing Funding for Learners website; and
• Funding the next edition of the Benefits for Students in Scotland Handbook, produced by the Child Poverty Action Group.

Currently, potential learners find out about funding through various sources including their local colleges and the Students Award Agency for Scotland. The new system aims to be simpler and more straightforward to use.

Full Story

 

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY begins with an Executive debate on the Financial Services Strategy.

Launched last month, this is a joint industry-government strategy for financial services.

The financial services sector directly employs more than 100,000 people - 4.7% of the workforce - in Scotland and generates £5 billion - almost 6% - of GDP.   The strategy therefore recognises the industry's fundamental importance to the Scottish economy and aims to build on the strengths which have made Scotland the most important UK financial centre outside London.

An implementation plan the strategy focuses on the three areas:

• People and Infrastructure;

• Profile; and

• Innovation.

Early actions include:

• Examining new air routes from Scotland to key financial services locations;

• Working with mobile phone operators and transport bodies to eliminate 'gaps' in coverage between Edinburgh and Glasgow;

• Examining ways of improving rail links between Edinburgh and Glasgow;

• Feeding in the needs of the industry to the Executive's Fresh Talent initiative;

• Enhancing work underway on financial education;

• Building better labour market knowledge; and

• Boosting capability within the supply network.

 

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The day concludes with a Member’s Business debate on the Make Poverty History Campaign in 2005 from Des McNulty (LAB).

THURSDAY morning begins with the Stage 1 debate of the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill.

This is the much publicised and controversial Bill which will restrict smoking in public places.  There is, however, much more in the Bill.

Part 1 makes provision for a ban on smoking in certain wholly enclosed places:

• creating an offence of permitting others to smoke in and on no-smoking premises;

• creating an offence of smoking in no-smoking premises;

• creating an offence of failing to display warning notices in no-smoking premises;

• setting out the powers of enforcement officers to enter no-smoking premises; and

• creating an offence of failing without reasonable excuse to give one’s name and address on request by an authorised officer.

Part 2 provides for various matters concerning general dental services, personal dental services and general ophthalmic services:

• free oral health assessments and dental examinations;

• free eye examinations and sight tests;

• assistance and support in the provision of general dental services;

• NHS provision of certain dental services;

• listing of those persons undertaking to provide or approved to assist in the provision of general ophthalmic services; and

• listing of those persons undertaking to provide or approved to assist in the provision of general dental services and those persons performing personal dental services under section 17C arrangements and pilot schemes.

Part 3 makes a series of provisions regarding pharmaceutical care services:

• requirements on Health Boards to plan provision of pharmaceutical care services;

• contracts for provision of pharmaceutical care services;

• listing of persons performing pharmaceutical care services; and

• provision of assistance and support for pharmaceutical care services.

Part 4 makes provisions for strengthening the powers of the NHS Tribunal, extending its jurisdiction and giving effect to corresponding provision made in England or Wales or Northern Ireland.

Part 5 makes provisions for a number of miscellaneous issues:

• payments to certain persons infected with hepatitis C;

• amendment of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001;

• registration of child care agencies and housing support services;

• amendment of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000;

• the ability of Scottish Ministers and health bodies to enter into joint ventures; and

• the Scottish Hospital Endowments Research Trust.

This is followed by General Question Time and First Minister’s Question Time.

In the afternoon, after Themed Question Time (for the featured departments, see Section 1 above) there is an Executive debate on the Criminal Justice Plan and Surrounding Issues.

The Criminal Justice Plan, published in December 2004, covers crime prevention, the ongoing threat from illegal drugs, court reform, and the effectiveness of sentences.  The main focus, however, is on reducing re-offending by improving the management of offenders and ensuring that the organisations which provide offenders' services work more closely and effectively together.  Currently six out of 10 prisoners are reconvicted within two years of their release from prison.

Proposals to tackle re-offending include:

• Establishing a national advisory board for offender management, with members drawn from across criminal justice services, to develop a national strategy to reduce re-offending and take on responsibility for monitoring Scottish Prison Service performance on offender management;
• Legislating to create a statutory requirement for SPS and local authorities to work together to reduce re-offending and ensure they form effective local area partnerships to deliver integrated services for offenders in prison and the community;
• Bringing local councils' criminal justice services together into new Community Justice Authorities (CJAs) to ensure these local areas partnerships are as joined-up as possible. These groupings will in future receive the community component of criminal justice funding and be responsible for ensuring these resources are used effectively across traditional council boundaries; and
• Giving Ministers new powers to intervene if either SPS or councils fail to get a grip of this problem.

The proposals to set up CJAs are being taken forward as part of the Management of Offenders Etc. (Scotland) Bill, introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 4th March 2005.  At the start of this month, a consultation was launched to gather views on a number of issues relating to the creation of CJAs.  The consultation will run until 23rd June 2005 and the consultation document can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/47336

Subject to the Parliamentary process, CJAs are expected to be in place from June 2006 and engaged in the drawing up of area plans during 2006-07, with 2007-08 being the first year fully under the new arrangements.

The day concludes with a Member’s Business debate on Reviewing Arrangements for Managing Sex Offenders from Paul Martin (LAB).

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