Scottish
Parliament e-Brief
Issue 279, 6th
February 2006
SECTION
1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
THE
CHAMBER
In
Committee
| Tuesday
7th February 2006 |
|
AM
|
Audit
|
The Committee will consider a follow-up response
from the Scottish Prison Service on the section 22 report by the
Auditor General for Scotland on its 2004/05 audit. Members will
also consider a follow-up response from the Scottish Executive to its
report on bowel cancer services.
|
| |
Equal
Opportunities
|
Evidence on the disability inquiry continues.
|
| |
Finance
|
Executive officials give evidence on the Financial Memorandum of
the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Bill.
|
| PM |
Enterprise
and Culture
|
Members also take evidence on the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc.
(Scotland) Bill, from lawyers' representatives and members of the
Legal Committee of the Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers.
|
| |
Health
|
The inquiry into free personal care continues with a roundtable
discussion featuring a range of interest groups, social workers and
officials.
|
| |
Local
Government and Transport
|
No less than 4 panels of witnesses, including Electoral
Commissioner, Sir Neil McIntosh, give Stage 1 evidence on the Local
Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Bill.
|
| Wednesday
8th February 2006 |
|
AM
|
Communities
|
The
Committee looks at two petitions on the planning system -
specifically, public involvement and the appeals system; and
protection for amenity woodland - before taking evidence on the Planning
etc. (Scotland) Bill.
|
| |
Public
Petitions
|
New petitions cover topics including policy on skin cancer and
something called a "Play Strategy". The Committee also
returns to the petitions on reforming the Solicitors (Scotland) Act
1980 in respect of limited companies, exposure to electromagnetic
fields from high voltage transmission lines and the Scottish Civic
Forum.
|
| |
Procedures
|
The review of parliamentary time continues, hearing from 6 MSPs
from various parties. SPCB representatives then give evidence on the
procedures relating to Crown appointments.
|
| |
Environment
and Rural Development
|
The Minister for Environment and Rural Development
and the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning give
evidence to the food supply chain inquiry.
|
SECTION
2 - NEWS
Scotland
reaches 25% recycling target
Scotland recycled 25.1% of
waste in the second quarter of 2005-06, according to new statistics
published today.
Inverclyde's
municipal waste recycling / composting rate for July to September 2005 was
22.1%. For the year October 2004 to September 2005, it was 14.1%.
The latest recycling
figures were released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
as the Executive launched a consultation to seek views on what more can be
done to promote household waste prevention.
The
consultation runs until 28th April.
Full
Story
Backing
for football fans
Football fans are being
encouraged to become more involved with the clubs they support, backed
by nearly £200,000 from the Scottish Executive.
Sports Minister, Patricia Ferguson,
confirmed two-years of funding for Supporters Direct in Scotland, a
group which offers support, advice and information to football fans.
The aim of Supporters Direct is to help people "who wish to play a
responsible part in the life of the football club they wish to
support" and it offers support, advice and information to groups of
football supporters.
There are 31
active Supporters Trusts in Scotland (30 in the SPL and SFL plus
Clydebank).
Full
Story
SECTION
3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS
WEDNESDAY
begins
with
an Executive debate on the Local
Government Settlement 2006-2007.
Confirming the 2006-07 and
2007-08 local government settlement to the
Parliament in November, Finance and Public Service Reform Minister, Tom McCabe,
said:
"I can confirm that the
total core funding through Aggregate External Finance for local authorities in
2006-07 is £8.3 billion. This means funding has increased by almost £2.6
billion over the past six years. By 2008, funding will have risen by
around 55% since 1999. For local communities, this means key services
should be able to receive increased funding of more than £300 million next year
and £540 million the following year.
"Whilst recognising these
increases are lower relative to those we were able to provide in recent years,
they must, of course, be considered in light of the wider context of our work to
ensure the public sector is as efficient and effective as possible,
notwithstanding some of the spending pressures local authorities are currently
facing. Never before has it been so important for local authorities, as
well as the wider public sector, to be innovative and rise to the challenge to
bring long-term change in the way we deliver public services. Money and
time can no longer be wasted on unnecessary bureaucracy or inefficiency.
We need that time and money to be ploughed straight back into frontline services
to ensure the people of Scotland enjoy better public services.
"I am prepared to consider
the case for some further additional resources for local government
in 2007-08 - but only if local government shows
significant progress towards the Efficient Government
targets. I believe this - and other factors like aligning resources to
priorities and ensuring income-generation is as efficient as possible - will
allow local authorities to exert downward pressure on council tax levels."
The
day concludes with a Member's Business debate on Linlithgow
Primary School Volunteers from Mary Mulligan (LAB).
THURSDAY
morning begins with Stage 3 of the Budget
(Scotland) (No.3) Bill.
An annual
occurrence, this is the Bill which is required to make provision, for financial
year 2006/07, for the use of resources by the Scottish Administration and
certain bodies whose expenditure is payable out of the Scottish Consolidated
Fund. It also authorises the payment of sums out of the Fund and for the
maximum amounts of borrowing by certain statutory bodies and makes provision,
for financial year 2007/08, for authorising the payment of sums out of the Fund
on a temporary basis.
This is the
final part of the final stage of the budget process.
This
is followed by an Executive debate on Volunteering.
Although no motion has yet been
tabled, it is likely that this debate will allow MSPs to debate the Executive's
progress in promoting volunteering.
Back in May, ProjectScotland,
described by the Executive as "portal through which young people will
access hundreds of full time volunteering opportunities" in the
environment, new media and arts, education, sports or health, was formally
launched. It gives young people the opportunity to sign up to a
volunteering placement of their choice, lasting anything from three to twelve
months.
The initiative gives 16-25
year-olds a chance to get involved, contribute to the community and help them to
make the key choices in their lives. It proceeds on the basis that
volunteers should not be out of pocket as a result of volunteering full time.
While a ProjectScotland volunteer is on a placement, they will be offered a
subsistence allowance of £55 per week, unless they stand to lose certain
benefits (in which case, they may continue to receive those benefits).
They also get travelling expenses.
ProjectScotland is a unique
partnership between the public, private and voluntary sectors.
This
is followed by General
Question Time and First Minister’s Question Time.
In the afternoon,
following Themed
Question Time, there is an Executive
debate on Social Work for the 21st Century.
The 21st Century Social Work Review Group -
http://www.21csocialwork.org.uk -
was set up by Peter Peacock, Minister for Education and Young People and is the
first fundamental look at social work since the Social Work (Scotland) Act
1968. The review group comprised 13 independent experts from the
statutory and voluntary sectors with knowledge of social work, health, housing,
homelessness, education and criminal justice.
The review group submitted its
recommendations to Scottish Minister on 4th November 2005. Since then,
Ministers have been considering the recommendations and how best to shape social
work so that services meet the needs of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged
children and adults. At the heart of the recommendations is the desire to
ensure that future generations of service users benefit from a range of
flexible, responsive and integrated social work services.
The day
closes with a Member's
Business debate on Cumbernauld Town
Centre from Margaret Mitchell (CON).
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