Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 289, 25th April 2006

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

In Committee

SECTION 2 - NEWS

Standing up to antisocial behaviour
The search is on to find community heroes who have joined the effort to rid Scotland of the misery caused by antisocial behaviour.  Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, led the call for people to step forward and gain recognition with the launch of the Standing Up to Antisocial Behaviour Awards 2006.

The scheme, organised by the Co-op and the Executive, aims to raise awareness of the difference individuals and groups can make.

Winners will receive up to £5,000 to spend on an activity to stop antisocial behaviour in their area.

There are four categories of awards:

• Individuals;

• Local groups or projects;

• Young people (individuals or groups under 18);

• "Above and beyond" - for officials such as community wardens, local housing staff, or school staff who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to tackle antisocial behaviour.

The nomination form is now available online at: http://www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com/asb/files/ABAs%20Leaflet_AW.PDF

All applications must be received by 30th June.

Full Story

Promoting Glasgow 2014 at Westminster
Scotland's Sports Minister, Patricia Ferguson, will travel to London today to present details of Scotland's 2014 Commonwealth Games bid to Scottish MPs and Lords.

She will highlight the potential benefits of a successful Scottish bid and urge Scottish members to take every opportunity to promote Scotland as the ideal location to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Ahead of this evening's reception Ms Ferguson said:

"Scotland's MPs and Lords are ideally placed to help us tell the rest of the world that Scotland is the best venue for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. That's why I've come to London - to tell them what we want to achieve and how they can help.

"A successful bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games would showcase Scotland to a worldwide audience and as the bid gathers pace it is vital that as many people as possible promote Scotland whenever they get the chance."

The Commonwealth Games Federation will announce the name of the successful host city in Sri Lanka in October 2007.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY begins with Stage 3 of the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Bill.

The Bill, introduced by the Standards and Public Appointments Committee, will replace the current Members' Interests Order with legislation.  Section 39 of the Scotland Act 1998 requires provision to be made by or under an Act of the Scottish Parliament for a Register of Members’ Interests and sets out the provisions which must be included.  Also, Article 10 of the current Order anticipates its eventual replacement by an Act of the Scottish Parliament.

The main change between the current system and its proposed replacement is that MSPs would be required to register certain non-financial interests.  At the moment, they only need to register financial interests, but it has been proposed to use an objective "influence" test to help MSPs determine when to register certain non-financial interests.  In other words, Members would be required to register those interests which the public might reasonably think could influence an MSP’s actions.  It would be for each Member to ask themselves not whether they would or might be influenced by the interest, but whether a fair minded and informed observer would conclude that their impartiality would be or appear to be prejudiced by the interest.  This provides a formal underpinning to the current guidance on declaring an interest prior to participating in parliamentary proceedings.

The new Bill also differs from the existing legislation in the following respects:

• MSPs and their partners would register the market value of any shareholdings which meet the registration threshold (as opposed to the value at the time of issue of those shares);

• MSPs would register interests held by partners in heritable property (partners’ interests in heritable property is not covered by existing legislation); and

• MSPs would register all gifts above 0.5% of their salary value, but gifts between family members would not fall to be registered.

Some issues which emerged at Stage 2 may be revisited during Stage 3.  These include:

Non-Financial Interests
The Ad Hoc Committee set up in 2006 to consider Stage 2 of the Bill removed Schedule 2, which covered non-financial interests, meaning that members would no longer have to register non-financial interests.  However, the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc (Scotland) Act 2000, requires councillors and members of certain public bodies to register non-financial interests.  The Standards Committee, then, mindful of the need for consistency, backed the registration of non-financial interests in their report on the Bill in January this year.  On that basis, it is likely that amendments restoring Schedule 2 will be re-tabled at Stage 3 in order that the Parliament can decide whether it is necessary for such interests to be registered.

Related undertakings
In the Ad Hoc Committee, Margaret Jamieson (LAB) had tabled an amendment seeking to widen the definition of "related undertakings", i.e. those which attach a financial interest besides remuneration.  An example of this would be an unremunerated financial interest in a family business.  While the Committee approved the spirit of the amendment, Ms Jamieson withdrew it and the Standards Committee, as the promoter of the Bill, took the issue on.  It is likely that the amendment will be redrafted and come back at Stage 3, possibly in a form which could cover circumstances such as members providing an interest free loan to a family business which could influence his/her actions, but would ensure that things like money owed on utility bills or a mortgage could not be covered by the Bill.

The situation at the moment is that members’ partners have to register gifts and shares but not heritable property.  Questions likely to be debated at Stage 3, therefore, include whether Members should be required to register their partners’ heritable property as well as gifts and shares, or whether there is no need for them to register anything relating to their partners.

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate entitled 20th Anniversary of Nuclear Accident at Chernobyl from Des McNulty (LAB).

THURSDAY morning begins with an Executive debate on the Scottish Rural Development Plan.

The formulation of the new Scottish Development Plan and Programme will set the Executive’s goals for sustainable rural development.  It will also set out the types of support which will be available to help achieve these goals over the next 7 years using European funds and co-funding from the Executive. 

The foreword to the consultation Rural Development Programme for Scotland 2007-2013 highlights new incentives for land managers and others to earn a return from investments designed to secure public benefits for Scotland, as well as issues relating to devising the remaining parts of the Land Management Contracts.

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

The day closes with a Member's Business debate on the Wanlockhead Museum Trust and Museum of Lead Mining from Alasdair Morgan (SNP).

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