Scottish
Parliament e-Brief
SECTION
1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
THE
CHAMBER
|
Wednesday 22nd November 2006 |
|
| 14:20 – 14:35 | SPCB Question Time |
| 14:35 – 15:30 | Stage 1 Debate: Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill |
| 15:30 – 17:00 | Stage 1 Debate: Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading (Scotland) Bill |
| 17:00 – 17:30 | Member's Business: Fund for Farepak Victims (Dr Elaine Murray (LAB)) |
|
|
|
|
Thursday 23rd November 2006 |
|
| 09:15 – 11:40 | Preliminary Stage Debate: Airdrie-Bathgate Railway and Linked Improvements Bill |
|
11:40 – 12:00 |
|
|
12:00 – 12:30 |
First Minister's Question Time |
| 14:15 – 14:55 |
* Justice and Law Officers; * Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning |
|
14:55 – 17:00 |
Stage 1 Debate: Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Bill |
| 17:00 – 17:30 | Member's Business: School Bus Safety (Alex Neil (SNP)) |
In Committee
| Tuesday 21st November 2006 | ||
| AM | Finance |
Des
McNulty's promotion to Deputy Communities Minister means that the
Committee will have to elect a new Convener. Margaret Jamieson
MSP, Convener of the Scottish Commission for Public Audit, will then
give evidence on the budget process 2007-08. |
| Audit |
The Committee will consider a draft report on its
inquiry into the Auditor General for Scotland's (AGS) report entitled
"A first stage review of the cost and implementation of the
teachers’ agreement A Teaching Profession for the 21st
Century". It will also hear from the AGS on his report on
the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the section 22 report on the
Scottish Prison Service. |
|
| Subordinate
Legislation |
Minister for Parliamentary Business, Margaret Curran, and civil servants give evidence to the inquiry into the regulatory framework in Scotland. The Committee also hears from officials on the delegated powers in the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Bill as amended at Stage 2. |
|
| Standards
and Public Appointments |
The Committee will consider a paper on determinations
required under the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament
Act 2006. |
|
| PM | European
and External Relations |
The inquiry into the European Commission's strategy for growth and jobs will hear from the Federation of Small Business Scotland; the Institute of Directors Scotland (Gerry Edwards, Managing Director of National Semiconductor (UK) Ltd.); the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland; the STUC; the Scottish Council Foundation; and an academic. |
| Local
Government and Transport |
The Committee looks at a series of petitions on the
issue of common good, hearing from the Society of Local Authority
Lawyers and Administrators in Scotland and Audit Scotland. |
|
| Justice
2 |
Representatives of the Scottish Retail Consortium; the
Parole Board for Scotland; the Risk Management Authority; and HM
Deputy Chief Inspector of Prisons give evidence on the Custodial
Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Bill. |
|
| Wednesday 22nd November 2006 | ||
| AM | Communities |
Representatives of Barnardo’s; Children in Scotland;
One Plus; and Save the Children are among those giving evidence on the
Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Bill. |
|
|
Environment
and Rural Development |
Stage 2 of the Crofting Reform etc. Bill
continues. |
| Justice
1 |
Stage 2 of the Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform)
(Scotland) Bill continues. |
|
| Education |
A round-table discussion on the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Bill hears from a wide range of interested organisations, including Quarriers; the Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils; the Scottish Council For Voluntary Organisation; the Scottish Parent Teacher Council; the Scottish Council of the Scout Association; and Youth Scotland. Local authority and Health Board witnesses, children's organisations and Scottish Women's Aid then give formal Stage 1 evidence on the Bill. |
|
SECTION 2 - NEWS
Appointment
of headteachers
Powers to get parents more
involved in appointing headteachers and deputies were unveiled today.
A consultation on Regulations which will protect and increase parental involvement in the appointment process is the latest step in the Executive's drive to give parents more of a say in education. Currently, councils are under no obligation to consult with parents when they begin the recruitment process and parental representation is only required at the final interview.
The proposed Regulations will:
Ensure that parent councils are consulted before any recruitment process begins;
Give parents a legal right to be involved in the short listing process; and
Guarantee parents make up at least one third of any appointment panel.
Section 14 of the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 set out the framework for parental involvement in appointing headteachers and deputes. The Parental Involvement in Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher Appointments Regulations will provide more detail on those processes.
Financial
services jobs
Barclays Wealth, the UK's
leading wealth manager, today announced that it is to create 500 jobs in
Glasgow over the next three years.
Already based at four sites in Glasgow, Barclays Wealth has secured four floors in the city's Aurora building to house its expanding workforce.
The company, which first came to Glasgow with the launch of Barclays Stockbrokers in 1986, is a top ten employer in Glasgow with 1,200 staff who are among the the 29,000 now working in the city's financial services industry.
Barclays Wealth is part of the Barclays Group, one of the largest financial services groups in the world by market capitalisation.
SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS
A week dominated by the first stage debates on a range of Bills begins on WEDNESDAY with SPCB Question Time - the chance for MSPs to question the parliament's governing body on its work.
This is followed by the Stage 1 debate of the Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill.
This Bill seeks to establish a new system for authorising major rail, tram, inland waterway and guided bus system projects. It also makes minor amendments to the process for authorising nationally significant road and harbour developments and the making of pilotage orders. It also allows for the establishment of voluntary purchase schemes for properties affected by major transport developments and removes ministerial powers to make light railway orders.
At the moment, all major rail, tram and inland waterway developments are currently authorised through a Private Act of the Scottish Parliament. The Bill will remove this requirement and introduce a new system to authorise such projects. The detailed provisions of the new scheme are not set out on the face of the Bill, but will be made through secondary legislation.
That being said, the Scottish Executive anticipates that the scheme will operate roughly thus:
The promoter of a development formally notifies all affected persons of the development proposals and consults with affected parties, defined statutory bodies, local MSPs and local community based organisations;
The promoter sends documentation to Ministers, not less than six weeks prior to the intended application date, for pre-application scrutiny;
The promoter applies formally to Ministers for an order to be made authorising the scheme;
A period of objection, a minimum of six weeks in length, will be held during which formal objections can be made;
Ministers, once the objection period closes, then decide whether the application is correct in procedural terms;
If there are no objections, then Ministers can make a decision to approve or reject the draft orders. If there are outstanding objections, Ministers must decide whether to hold a public inquiry or hearing. Where there are statutory objections to Compulsory Purchase Orders, an inquiry must be held;
An independent reporter is appointed to conduct an inquiry or hearing which will conclude with the reporter producing recommendations within a formal report submitted to Ministers; and
Ministers then decide to accept, modify or reject the reporter's recommendations. If appropriate, they will make a final Order which will be subject to parliamentary approval if the scheme is of national significance (as identified in the National Planning Framework). If not, then the order is made as a Local Order.
The Stage 1 debate on the Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading (Scotland) Bill then takes place.
This Member's Bill (put forward by Labour's Karen Whitefield) would prevent shops with a floor size of more than 280 sq m opening on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Smaller shops, restaurants, pubs, takeaways, registered pharmacies and shops within airports, railway stations, ports and motorway service stations would not be affected by the ban.
The proposals are supported by shopworkers and their trade union representatives, USDAW. CBI Scotland and the Scottish Retail Consortium are against a ban on New Year's Day trading.
The political parties are similarly split. The Justice 2 Committee narrowly voted in favour of the plans last week. Labour and the SSP backed the general principles of the Bill, while the Liberal Democrats, SNP and Conservatives voted against. Given the parliamentary arithmetic, it is therefore difficult to predict whether the Bill will be passed by the full parliament. It is also unclear if a compromise will be found.
The day concludes with a Member's Business debate entitled Fund for Farepak Victims from Dr Elaine Murray (LAB).
THURSDAY morning begins with the Preliminary Stage debate on the Airdrie-Bathgate Railway and Linked Improvements Bill.
This is exactly the sort of Private Bill, the need for which the Transport and Works (Scotland) Bill (discussed above) aims to remove.
If passed, the Bill would grant Network Rail the power to construct an electrified double track railway between Drumgelloch in North Lanarkshire and Bathgate in West Lothian. Network Rail would use their existing statutory powers to upgrade the existing Airdire-Drumgelloch line and upgrade/electrify the current Bathgate-Haymarket line.
The line would be served by a 15 minute frequency service, linking Helensburgh with Edinburgh and intermediate stations. The projected maximum line speed is 80mph, which gives an Edinburgh Waverley-Glasgow Queen Street Low Level journey time of 74 minutes, including intermediate stops.
This is followed by General Question Time and First Minister's Question Time.
In the afternoon, following Themed Question Time, Stage 1 debate of the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Bill takes place.
Introduced by the Scottish Executive on 30th March 2006, the Bill seeks to prevent the abuse of older and vulnerable people.
Part 1 of the Bill contains specific provisions for the protection of adults at risk, often referred to in the past as “vulnerable adults”, in particular people with learning disabilities, older people and some young people.
Parts 2 and 3 of the Bill contain provisions amending the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 and the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.
The Bill has, however, proved controversial and the Health Committee only supported the general principles underpinning the Bill on condition that substantial amendments are made to it. The Committee's report argues that, “the Bill has the potential to fill a gap in the current legislative framework. However, key definitions within it, and its relationship with existing legislation, are problematic. The Committee believes that fundamental changes are necessary if it is to be a useful and effective piece of legislation.”
The Committee expressed major concerns over particular new powers which, in certain circumstances, would permit adults at risk to be removed from their homes against their will. The Committee has therefore called for the following amendments to be made to the Bill:
The definition of who is covered by the Bill should be amended so that it is not so all-encompassing and discriminatory in terms of those with disabilities;
The term "abuse" should be removed from the Bill and replaced with a less pejorative term, so that it does not stigmatise and alienate those who have perhaps been doing their best and may only be guilty of benign neglect;
The Bill should be amended so that it does not override rights already established in other laws;
In order to reduce the risk of challenge under the European Convention of Human Rights, there should be a right of appeal against Removal Orders;
The definition of the person who has the power to remove someone from their home against their will should be made more specific than "a council officer"; and
The test which a Sheriff must apply before removing someone against the wishes of the adult at risk should be tightened.
The day closes with a Member's Business debate on School Bus Safety from Alex Neil (SNP).
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