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Measures to improve monitoring of sex offenders
New measures have been unveiled today by Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, to improve public protection from sex offenders.  These include new police powers; more stringent conditions for offenders; further investment to enable the police to share intelligence on sexual and violent offenders throughout the UK; and the introduction of a formal police warnings system for sex offenders.

The package builds on a raft of work being taken forward by the Executive to improve the monitoring and supervision of sex offenders and is informed by the publication today of an independent review of the operation of the sex offender registration scheme by Professor George Irving.

The key measures announced by the Minister today include:

• Requiring convicted sex offenders to provide the police with more information about themselves including details of passports, bank accounts and credit cards;

• Requiring sex offenders to provide a DNA sample to the police if this was not provided at the time of charge or conviction;

• Giving the police additional powers to enter and search a sex offender's home for the purposes of risk assessment, monitoring or to check information held on the register;

• Introducing a formal police warnings system for sex offenders whose whereabouts or activities are giving rise to concern which, if warnings were ignored, could lead to information about their background or whereabouts being disclosed, for example to an employer or householder; and

• Strengthening the national register of violent and sexual offenders (ViSOR) by providing £150,000 to speed up the addition of intelligence on to this national database to enable the police throughout the UK to share and track information. This database includes intelligence on those suspected of being a risk, even if they have not been convicted.

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SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY begins with a Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) debate on its report on Prioritisation of the Non-Executive Bills Unit’s Workload.

The Non-Executive Bills Unit (NEBU) was established in August 2000 in response to a gap which had been identified in the level of support available for committees and members wishing to introduce Bills.  NEBU’s aims are to:

• Assist committees’ and members’ formulation of policy objectives;
• Support members in developing Bill proposals;
• Support committees and members in Bill drafting and the Parliamentary process; and
• Assist committee clerks with preparation of papers for committee scrutiny of Non-Executive Bills.

The SPCB is responsible for ensuring that the Parliament is provided with the property, staff and services it requires to operate effectively and all members are able to carry out their duties.  One such decision is the prioritisation of the workload of NEBU. This report, therefore, sets out the SPCB's recommendations on the prioritisation of proposals for Members’ Bills for the remainder of this parliamentary session.

The SPCB is therefore recommending to the Parliament that, in addition to the bills already receiving NEBU support, the following proposals for Members’ Bills should be prioritised for drafting assistance from NEBU:

• The Civil Appeals (Scotland) Bill (Adam Ingram (SNP)); and
• The Commissioner for Older People (Scotland) Bill (Alex Neil (SNP)).

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate on the Summer Academy @ Strathclyde from Bill Butler (LAB).

THURSDAY morning begins with an Executive debate entitled Delivering for Health.

This will debate the report of the expert group, led by international cancer specialist Professor David Kerr, on the a framework for the future of the NHS in Scotland.

The report, Building a Health Service Fit for the Future, sets out detailed recommendations on how the health service could be shaped over the coming decades.  It represents the culmination of 14 months of investigation and has been welcomed by Health Minister, Andy Kerr.

It has been said of the report that it represents a fundamental departure from the idea of the patient as a passive recipient of healthcare and the narrow board-by-board system of service design which sparked intense public protest.

The key recommendations are:

• All NHS Boards to put in place a systematic approach to caring for people (especially older people) with long term conditions with a view to managing their care at home or in the community and, where possible, without hospitalisation.

• Action in deprived areas, through anticipatory care, to prevent future ill-health and reduce health inequality.

• Manage demand for planned care to maximise use of capacity and to inform patient choice by streaming it from unscheduled care, treating day surgery as the norm (rather than inpatient surgery), enabling better community based access to diagnostics and developing referral management services.

• Support and encouragement for patients and their carers to manage their own health care needs and to help others with similar conditions.

• Implement urgently a national single information and communications technology system, including an electronic patient record and the development of tele-medicine, as a means to improve access, quality, develop clinical evidence and connect up the NHS.

• Empower multi-disciplinary teams in local casualty departments to provide the vast majority of hospital-based unscheduled care - networked by tele-medicine to consultant led emergency units.

• Concentrate specialised or complex care on fewer sites to secure clinical benefit or manage clinical risk.

• Develop networks of rural hospitals to ensure continued access to key elements of acute care and establish a Clinical School for Rural Health Care to ensure workforce development.

• Accelerate the development of regional planning for hospital based health services.

• Set a clear agenda for Community Health Partnerships working across the boundaries between primary and secondary care and with partners in social care to shift the balance of care.

The Kerr report assesses the current state of the NHS, and proposes a new model:

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

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In the afternoon, following Themed Question Time (for the featured departments, see Section 1 above), there is an Executive debate on Homelessness.

Between August and 14th October this year, a consultation was carried out on the content of a Statement by Scottish Ministers to advise the Parliament on progress being made under homelessness legislation.  The Homelessness Etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 requires a Ministerial Statement this year on the abolition of "priority need" by 2012. 

Presently, all people applying as homeless have the right to temporary accommodation and advice and assistance, but only those people assessed as being in "priority need" are currently eligible for permanent accommodation.  By abolishing "priority need" under the new legislation, all people who are unintentionally homeless will be entitled to a permanent home by 2012.

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate on Looked-after Young People from Mary Mulligan (LAB).