Scottish
Parliament e-Brief
SECTION
1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
THE
CHAMBER
|
Wednesday 20th December 2006 |
|
| 10:05 – 12:00 | Equal Opportunities Committee Debate: 2nd Report 2006, Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities |
| 14:00 – 16:00 | Finance Committee Debate: 7th Report 2006, Inquiry into Accountability and Governance |
| 16:00 – 17:25 | Stage 1 Debate: Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill |
| 17:25 – 17:30 | Justice 2 Committee Motion – Civil Appeals (Scotland) Bill |
| 17:30 – 18:00 | Member's Business: Rise in Alcohol-Related Crime Figures in the Highlands and Islands (Maureen Macmillan (LAB)) |
|
|
|
|
Thursday 21st December 2006 |
|
| 09:15 – 10:15 | Scottish National Party Debate: Trident |
| 10:30 – 11:40 | Scottish National Party Debate: Post Offices |
|
11:40 – 12:00 |
|
|
12:00 – 12:30 |
First Minister's Question Time |
| 12:30 – 13:00 | Member's Business: Respect Your Life, Not a Knife (Andrew Welsh (SNP)) |
| 14:15 – 14:55 |
*
Education and Young People, Tourism, Culture and Sport; |
|
14:55 – 15:35 |
Procedures Committee Debate: 6th Report 2006, Public Bills and Substitution; 7th Report 2006, Members’ Interests (Parliamentary Determinations and Resolutions); 8th Report 2006, Consolidation Bill Procedure; 9th Report 2006, Rule 10.3.2 (the "20-day rule") |
| 15:35 – 17:00 | Finance Committee Debate: Stage 2 of the 2007-08 Budget Process |
In Committee
| Tuesday 19th December 2006 | ||
| AM | Environment
and Rural Development |
Heidi Hautala, a Member of the
Parliament of Finland and member of the Finnish National Commission on
Sustainable Development, will give evidence via video-link on the
scrutiny of sustainable development. The Committee will also
deal with a number of petitions, covering topics including: the
Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST); and ship-to-ship oil
transfers. |
| Audit |
The Committee will receive a briefing from the Auditor
General for Scotland on his report entitled, "Overview of the
financial performance of the NHS in Scotland 2005-06". |
|
| Communities |
The Committee will consider its draft Stage 1 report
on the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Bill. |
|
| PM | Education |
A draft Stage 1 report on the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Bill will be considered, as will the Committee's approach to its inquiry into the implementation of the Teachers’ Agreement. |
| Edinburgh
Airport Rail Link Bill Committee |
Oral Evidence on issues outstanding from the Preliminary Stage report comes from Network Rail, Transport Scotland, the Transport Minister and John Kennedy & Co. |
|
| European
and External Relations |
The inquiry into the European Commission's strategy for growth and jobs hears from European Commission officials and the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. |
|
| Health |
The Committee will hear evidence from the Deputy
Minister on amendments introduced to Parts 2 – 4 of the Adult
Support and Protection (Scotland) Bill. Stage 2 of the Bill
will then continue. |
|
| Justice 2 |
The Committee will consider the report by the Justice 2 Sub-Committee on child-sex offenders. |
|
SECTION 2 - NEWS
Domestic
Abuse Campaign 2006
This Christmas a new billboard
poster advert will reinforce the message that many in Scotland live with
domestic abuse.
This phase builds on the approach taken last year which highlighted that domestic abuse can take many forms, including psychological abuse. The new striking image characterises how those experiencing domestic abuse often mask what is going on, putting on a 'fake smile' or 'brave face' but in reality living in fear and pain, being manipulated or controlled.
The television advert shows the psychological abuse which many women suffer over a long time by showing a woman going about her daily routine constantly being reminded by her partner's behaviour and how he makes her feel. The radio advert portrays the impact of domestic abuse on children and young people by showing from a child's perspective how they feel lonely, scared and isolated, often fearing for their own and their mother's safety.
The Scottish Domestic Abuse Helpline number is 0800 027 1234. It's free, confidential, non-traceable and available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.
More information on help available, advice and the campaign can be found at www.domesticabuse.co.uk
National
Standards for Dental Services
New standards which will
ensure that patients get the highest quality of care from dental services in
Scotland have been published today.
The National Standards for Dental Services set out what patients can expect from dental services and how to raise any concerns they might have. They cover a range of issues including staffing, infection control and the environment in which patients are treated. The 15 standards will also be used to assess the performance of dental services in Scotland.
The standards were jointly developed by the Scottish Executive and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (QIS). They will apply to NHS and private dental services and to services which carry out both NHS and private work. They will cover care provided in dental hospitals, dental surgeries and local services such as community dentists. Private dental services will be regulated by the Care Commission, and dental service providers will be expected to be working towards meeting the standards, in anticipation of introduction of that new regulatory regime.
SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS
Chamber business on WEDNESDAY begins in the morning with an Equal Opportunities Committee debate on its report into Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities.
The 340-page report represents the culmination of a two-year inquiry into the barriers to participation faced by disabled people. It centres on the key issues of work, further and higher education and leisure. It also examines the barriers caused by inaccessible transport, poor physical access, limited information provision and the attitudes of people towards disabled people.
The unanimous report makes 156 wide-ranging, far-reaching recommendations, including:
A new approach to employment support for disabled people;
More information for employers to assist them in employing disabled people – and a need for them to make their recruitment methods more flexible;
A fundamental review of careers guidance to young disabled people in schools to help them move more easily into higher or further education;
A call for the Scottish Executive to develop a coherent and comprehensive transport strategy for disabled people – and to work with rail companies to improve accessibility at railway stations;
A strategic and national approach to tackling negative attitudes towards disabled people, including disability equality training, high profile media campaigns and education for school children; and
All equality training should include disability equality training devised by disabled people themselves.
The report was the most accessible report published by the Parliament. As well as being published in a larger size 14 font, alternative formats of the summary of recommendations will also be available in Easy Read, Braille and British Sign Language DVD.
This is followed in the afternoon by a Finance Committee debate on the report of its inquiry into Accountability and Governance.
The report calls for a stronger governance framework for commissioners and ombudsman to ensure they are more accountable to Parliament for their spending. It also calls for the Scottish Executive to delay the establishment of five new bodies. The Committee wants plans to be put on hold until work to remove duplication of effort between existing bodies has been completed.
Other recommendations include:
Amending existing legislation to give the Parliament's Corporate Body power of direction over commissioners / ombudsman budgets and office location;
Reviewing the Executive's complex classification of existing bodies which can create barriers to sharing services;
Examining the current status of the Scottish Commission for Public Audit, the body responsible for scrutinising the Auditor General and Audit Scotland's spending; and
Amalgamation of bodies with similar roles by the Executive within its public sector scrutiny review.
The five bodies referred to in the report are the Roadworks Commissioner, Scottish Civil Enforcement Commission, Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights, Legal Complaints Commissioner and Police Complaints Commissioner.
It is within the Finance Committee's remit to investigate any matter relating to or affecting the expenditure of the Scottish Administration or other expenditure payable out of the Scottish Consolidated Fund.
There is then the Stage 1 debate on the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Bill.
The Bill provides a package of measures aimed at conserving wild fish stocks, controlling parasites on farmed fish and preventing the escape of fish from fish farms. New powers to address access to freshwater fisheries, the welfare of freshwater fish and conservation measures aimed at ensuring the sustainability of freshwater fisheries are also proposed.
There are also substantial powers in the Bill to enable Scottish Ministers to tackle the parasite Gyrodactylus salaris (GS), which affects salmon. It is not currently present in Scotland but is present in other parts of Europe, including Norway. If GS was introduced to Scotland it would have devastating consequences for wild salmon stocks. Treatment to eradicate GS involves the release of the chemical Rotenone into affected rivers, which as well as killing fish would have a serious impact on all river life.
The Environment and Rural Development Committee's report on the Bill, which endorsed its general principles, therefore emphasises the importance of preventive measures to stop the GS parasite reaching Scotland. It also calls for more robust measures at ports to prevent it spreading to Scotland and recommends the launch of a high profile public information campaign about the importance of disinfecting angling gear and other water-sports equipment.
This is a Member's Bill, introduced by Adam Ingram (SNP), which would end the current possibility of appeal to the House of Lords in relation to Scottish civil cases. In doing so, it would also prevent that possibility of appeal being transferred to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (once that court is open for business). The Bill also seeks to establish an additional level of appeal within Scotland for Scottish civil cases.
The Motion from the Justice 2 Committee recommends that the Parliament rejects the Bill.
The day concludes with a Member's Business debate on the Rise in Alcohol-Related Crime Figures in the Highlands and Islands from Maureen Macmillan (LAB).
THURSDAY morning begins with two SNP debates on Trident and Post Offices.
As is usual with opposition debates, no motions have yet been published and so the focus of both debates is unclear. The motions will, as always, be published in the Business Bulletin in due course and a full transcript of both debates will be available from the Official Report on Friday. It can be surmised, however, that both will relate to the recent announcements thereon made at Westminster.
This is followed by General Question Time and First Minister's Question Time.
Unusually, this is followed by a Members' Business debate entitled Respect Your Life, Not a Knife from Andrew Welsh (SNP).
In the afternoon, following Themed
Question Time, there is a Procedures
Committee debate on a selection of its reports: Its 6th Report 2006 on Public
Bills and Substitution; it's 7th Report 2006 on Members’
Interests (Parliamentary Determinations and Resolutions); it's 8th
Report 2006 on Consolidation
Bill Procedure; and it's 9th Report 2006 on Rule
10.3.2 (the "20-day Rule").
Of limited interest to anyone outside of the Parliament itself, these reports concern various aspects of how business at the Scottish Parliament is organised.
As briefly as possible:
The Public Bills and Substitution report recommends a new Rule to prevent an MSP who is a member in charge of a Member’s Bill (or who has lodged a proposal for such a Bill) from participating as a member of any Committee considering that Bill (or proposal). The new Rule also prevents a Minister who is a member of a Committee from participating in Committee scrutiny of an Executive Bill (although this is very unlikely to happen in the first place), and prevents a member of a Committee which has initiated a Committee Bill from participating in any Committee scrutiny of that Bill. The report also recommends that, where such a member is prevented in this way from participating as a member of a Committee, a substitute may stand in for the relevant parts of the Committee meeting.
The report on Members’ Interests recommends a new Rule 1.8, which would provide a procedure to enable the Parliament to make determinations or resolutions under the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006.
On the procedures for Consolidation Bills (Bills which re-state the existing law on a particular subject in a single new Act, without substantially amending the law), certain restrictions must be adhered to and some special procedures followed. The report recommends specific changes to this procedure.
The 20-day Rule report recommends a small change to Rule 10.3.2 to allow more flexibility to the Subordinate Legislation Committee (at its request) in relation to the timescale for it to report on statutory instruments.
The day (and indeed year) closes with a Finance Committee debate entitled Stage 2 of the 2007-08 Budget Process.
The Finance Committee is responsible for the overall scrutiny of the budget and last week it published its report on the draft budget for 2007-08. The recommendations in the report include that:
There needs to be a clear linkage between the Executive’s priorities and the money allocated to them;
The Executive could use some of its reserve to address local government funding issues and to reinvest savings in frontline services and exert downward pressure on council tax levels in 2007-08;
There needs to be a much clearer explanation of how and when the Executive draws down money from the Treasury and how it uses that money to address priority issues; and
The Executive should undertake a detailed comparison of Grant-Aided Expenditure (GAE) provision and actual local spending levels to bring a closer alignment between GAE and spending patterns.
The Draft Budget sets out the Executive’s spending plans for the £31 billion which comprises its budget for 2007-08. The Finance Committee is responsible for the overall scrutiny of the Budget and for coordinating responses from the Parliament’s subject committees on the spending plans for their respective portfolios. The next stage in the budget process will be for the Executive to bring forward its annual Budget Bill in January which will legislate for spending in 2007-08.
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