Scottish
Parliament e-Brief
Issue 285, 20th
March 2006
SECTION
1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
THE
CHAMBER
In
Committee
| Tuesday
21st March 2006 |
|
AM
|
Equal
Opportunities
|
Evidence on the disability inquiry continues and the Committee
hears from the Communities Minister on the strategy for a Scotland
with an ageing population.
|
| |
Finance
|
The Committee will consider the draft reports on its deprivation
inquiry and on the Financial Memorandum of the Planning etc.
(Scotland) Bill.
|
| |
Procedures
|
The review of Parliamentary Time and points raised during last
week's debate on improving the legislative process will be discussed.
|
| PM |
Enterprise
and Culture
|
The adviser will brief the Committee on Part 4 (Land Attachment) of
the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Bill.
|
| |
Justice
2
|
The Committee will take evidence on a proposed amendment to the Police,
Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill in relation to
the retention of DNA samples.
|
| |
Local
Government and Transport
|
Stage 1 evidence on the Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill comes
from the Finance and Public Service Reform Minister and officials.
The freight transport inquiry then hears from the Office of Rail
Regulation; the STUC; ASLEF; the T&G; and Freight on Rail.
|
| |
Health
|
The Committee will take evidence from individuals who have made
written submissions to the care inquiry.
|
| Wednesday
22nd March 2006 |
|
AM
|
Communities
|
Councillors from a range of local authorities give evidence on the Planning
etc. (Scotland) Bill.
|
| |
Environment
and Rural Development
|
Stage 2 of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Bill
continues and the Environment Minister gives evidence on the
governance of Scottish Water.
|
| |
Justice
1
|
The Committee will consider
correspondence received from the Minister for Justice regarding
the Scottish Criminal Record Office.
|
| |
Public
Petitions
|
Evidence on petitions regarding a new Forth Road Bridge is followed
by consideration of new petitions which cover topics including local
engagement and consultation in local planning issues; fish farm
developments; equal access for children with both parents after
separation; and the shootings at Dunblane Primary School. The
Committee also returns to the Petitions on health and safety hazards
caused by seagulls in urban areas; maintaining and repairing roads,
pavements and footpaths; the supervised taking of prescribed
methadone; the sale or possession of swords in Scotland; and
institutional child abuse.
|
SECTION
2 - NEWS
Whisky
sales to China up 84%
Exports of Scotch Whisky to China increased by 84% in 2005, First Minister
Jack McConnell announced today at a Scotch Whisky Association reception in
Beijing.
The new whisky export figures
for China show that 2005 was a record year with the equivalent of 20 million
bottles, valued at £46 million, being exported to China, making it the 15th
largest world market by value.
The China figures have been
published in advance of the full global export figures due out later this
week.
In 2004:
-
Whisky exports generated
£2.24 billion for the UK balance of trade;
-
9,800 people were
directly employed (and approximately 40,000 plus indirectly employed) in
the Scotch Whisky Industry;
-
The top 5 of 200 markets
worldwide were the USA, France, Spain, S Korea and Greece; and
-
30 bottles were sold
overseas each second.
Full
Story
Glasgow
2014 games will be for everyone
The 2014 Commonwealth Games,
if they take place in Glasgow, will be geared to ensuring that the whole
nation is part of the sporting and cultural extravaganza, according to
Sports Minister, Patricia Ferguson.
The Minister was speaking
after visiting Clifton Hill Primary School in Melbourne. It is one of
180 schools, which took part in the Safeway's "Bringing Kids to the
Games" initiative, one of the State of Victoria's biggest ever
corporate / community projects. Every Safeway store in Victoria gave
tickets to local schools whose students made a significant contribution to
the community over the last year. Winning schools demonstrated
outstanding efforts in areas such as fundraising, environmental
conservation, volunteering or sporting endeavours.
3,000 pupils and their
teachers had the chance to go to an event at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth
Games.
Full
Story
SECTION
3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS
WEDNESDAY
begins
with
a Ministerial Statement on Scotland's
Species.
While
the details of any statement must first be made to the Parliament, Scottish
Natural Heritage (SNH) has launched a consultation on a Species
Framework which seeks to provide a basis for making decisions on the
controversial subject of species management as clear as possible.
The
consultation, which runs until 30th June 2006,
seeks views on when species management is necessary, how it should be carried
out and which species should be the focus of effort and resources over the next
3-5 years so as to make the most difference to biodiversity.
SNH says it considers there are
four situations where direct management is appropriate:
-
Species
conservation - to increase a species' range or population size
because it is at risk, or because it plays a vital role in ecosystem health.
Specific species listed are: black grouse; capercaillie; corn bunting;
corncrake; European beaver; freshwater pearl mussel; great yellow bumble
bee; lesser butterfly orchid; red squirrel; small cow wheat; Scottish
wildcat; vendace; water vole; white-tailed eagle; and woolly willow.
-
Invasive
non-native species - to control species that are not native to a
particular area and threaten biodiversity aims. Specific species
listed are: American mink; rhododendron; signal crayfish; and hedgehog (on
islands).
-
Conflicts
of interest involving native species - where biodiversity
objectives are at odds with people’s other interests. Specific
species listed are: Greenland white-fronted goose and hen harrier.
-
Sustainable
use of species - where a species in the wild is a resource of
social or economic benefit. Specific species listed are: native oyster
and red deer.
This
is followed by Final Stage Proceedings of the Edinburgh
Tram (Line Two) Bill.
This
Private Bill is being promoted by the City of
Edinburgh Council
, which is seeking to re-introduce trams to the
capital. This Bill would authorise the construction and operation of
Line Two, which is intended to run from St Andrew Square, via
Princes Street, Haymarket, Murrayfield and South Gyle to Edinburgh Airport and
Newbridge.
The
day concludes with a Member's Business debate on Lanarkshire
United Health for All from Carolyn Leckie (SSP).
THURSDAY
morning begins with an Executive debate
entitled Growing a Knowledge Economy.
Improving Scotland's skill-base
has been a long-standing commitment of the Scottish Executive. The current
Partnership Agreement states:
"We will significantly
improve the skills base of Scotland to be better prepared to meet the demands of
the knowledge economy. We will increase the apprenticeship programme to
30,000 places."
It is envisaged that the debate
will focus on the extent to which this aim has been realised. However, in
the absence of a motion at present, the precise focus is not clear.
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 the Strategy for an Ageing Population.
Last week, a consultation began on how Scotland
must adapt over the coming decades to harness the contribution and experience of
older people and ensure services meet their needs. The Executive is
looking for views to feed into the
"Strategy for a Scotland with an Ageing
Population" which will be published later this year.
A survey, also released last week, found that:
-
Only 57% of those younger than state pension age have
thought seriously about life after retirement;
-
77% of Scots below state pension age expect to be fit and
healthy in later life;
-
Just under half of older people consider family and
friends as the most important factor in having a happy old age; and
-
Both young and older people in Scotland want to see
respect between generations.
The Consultation runs until 5th June and seeks views in five
areas:
-
Contribution
-
Work
-
Services
-
Health and wellbeing
-
Housing, transport and surroundings
Click here
for more information.
The day
closes with a Member's
Business debate on the Proposed Closure
of Coldstream and Jedburgh Hospitals from Euan Robson (LD).
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