Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 307, 18th September 2006

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

In Committee

SECTION 2 - NEWS

Cancer on the retreat
Cancer is on the retreat in Scotland, with the lifetime risk of developing the disease beginning to fall and more people surviving it, according to the latest statistics.

The lifetime risk of getting cancer has fallen slightly for both men and women, while cancer mortality rates are down by 16% over the last 10 years.  This includes significant reductions for cancers which cause the highest numbers of deaths.  The figures come as it was revealed that cancer waiting times for January to March 2006 have also improved.

If this trend continues, the target to reduce mortality rates from cancer in under 75s by 20% between 1995 and 2010 will be met.

Full Story

Getting more drug dealers off the streets
A highly successful campaign to get drug dealers off Scotland's streets has entered its next phase.  The Drug Dealers Don't Care (DDDC) campaign, which last year resulted in the arrest of 428 dealers and the seizure of more than £1.5 million worth of drugs and cash, is now being re-launched.

The campaign - paid entirely from assets seized from criminals - is designed to encourage the public to give information anonymously to Crimestoppers Scotland (0800 555 111) about drug dealers operating in their area.  This information is then passed to the police to enable them to build up sufficient intelligence to arrest these individuals and stop their trade.

Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry was in Greenock on Friday to launch the campaign.  It will also be running in Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire.

Last year's six week long national Drug Dealers Don't Care (DDDC) campaign saw a 452% increase in the number of calls to Crimestoppers. 3,600 actionable calls were made to the 24 hour helpline.  This year's DDDC campaign will have a more localised approach, with two wards in six local authority areas being targeted by a publicity campaign in the local media and other related pr activity.  There will be a six week umbrella campaign running from 4th September to 15th October.  This will be supported by intensive localised PR activity for two weeks in each of the areas concerned.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY begins with a Health Committee debate on the report of its Care Inquiry.

Published on 13th June, the report examines the care legislation passed by the first Parliament.  The Inquiry was one of the first major pieces of "post-legislative scrutiny" by a parliamentary Committee, examining the implementation of both the Community Care and Health Act and the Regulation of Care Act.

On free personal care, the Committee recommends:

• A thorough remodelling of the free personal care budget including the mechanism used to distribute it to local authorities;

• Removing the legal loophole which allows councils to maintain waiting lists;

• A change to the law to make assistance with preparation of food clearly eligible for support; and

• A new minimum period for assessment or the back-dating of claims, to remove the incentive to local authorities to delay assessments.

The report also concludes that the introduction of free personal care for the elderly had been broadly successful.  Its findings include that the Act has:

• Provided greater security and dignity to many elderly people;

• Allowed them to be cared for more readily at home;

• Assisted their carers; and

• Reduced "bed blocking" and freed up NHS resources.

As well as free personal care, the report also focuses on the work of the Care Commission and the low take-up of "direct payments" for care.

The report identifies problems in the care regulation regime, citing duplication and overlap and poor co-operation between local authorities and the Care Commission.  To overcome these problems, the report recommends that the Executive make it mandatory for local authorities and the Commission to share information and to form agreements over the inspection and monitoring of care services.  The Committee also recommends that the Care Commission should not be funded by the elderly care services it regulates.  Rather, it says, this part of the Commission should be funded from the public purse, as the rest of its activities are.

On ‘direct payments' the Committee discovered, through research which it funded, that take-up across Scotland is patchy.  The Committee makes a number of recommendations to improve this situation.

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate entitled Maternity Services in Aberdeenshire from Mike Rumbles (LD).

THURSDAY morning begins with Conservative debate on The Environment.

As is normal with opposition debates, no motion has yet been published and so the focus of the debate is unclear.  The motion will, as always, be published in the Business Bulletin in due course and a full transcript of the debate will be available from the Official Report on Friday.

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

The day closes with a Member's Business debate on the Elgin Bypass from Maureen Macmillan (LAB).

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