Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 32, 28th August 2000
SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
This is the final week of the summer recess. Parliament will return next Monday, as will the full version of the e-Brief.
SECTION 2 - NEWS
Scotland's environmental watchdog is to be given tough new powers to combat water pollution under proposals issued for public consultation on Friday by Sarah Boyack.
The proposals would allow the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to serve Enforcement Notices on those allowed to discharge sewage and other effluent to make sure they comply with conditions attached to their consent to discharge. The Notices could be served before the pollution occurs if SEPA believes a breach of the conditions is likely.
The Minister for Transport and the Environment, Sarah Boyack, said:
"I am determined to cut pollution in Scotland's water environment and to clean up our beaches. The Scottish Executive is committed to improving our wastewater treatment systems by carrying through a major programme of investment. That financial injection is also directed to our goal of bringing Scotland's 60 designated bathing beaches up to European standards.
"Hand in hand with this commitment must be a determination to come down hard on polluters. There is no point in investing heavily in public infrastructure only to allow that benefit to be undermined by the flouting of carefully agreed consents."
At the moment, those intending to discharge sewage and other matter into controlled waters must apply to SEPA for consent - effectively a "licence"- to carry out the operation. In most cases consent is granted subject to a number of conditions e.g. restrictions on the content of certain chemicals in a discharge. SEPA is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the conditions of the discharge consent.
Under current enforcement arrangements SEPA can tackle non-compliance through discussion and negotiation, warning letters, revoking discharge consents or prosecution. Enforcement Notice powers will provide a further tool. They may be used where a condition of consent is being breached or where SEPA believes that a breach is likely. In contrast with most other measures it may be used to require action by consent holders in advance of a consent breach and before pollution occurs, e.g. where failure to comply with a maintenance programme could lead to a future breach of consent conditions. In such circumstances the Notice may require verifiable reinstatement of the maintenance plan.
The consultation paper sets out proposals for Regulations that are largely procedural. The draft Control of Pollution (Registers) and (Consents For Discharges) (Secretary of State Functions) Amendment Regulations 2000 provide for appeals against service of an Enforcement Notice and the entries on the public pollution control register. A commencement order will also be required to bring the Enforcement Notice powers, at sections 49A and 49B of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (as amended), into force.
Two other sets of Regulations are currently being prepared following consultation which took place earlier this year. These will enhance the powers of SEPA to tackle water pollution as follows:
The Control of Pollution (Registers) and (Consents For Discharges) (Secretary of State Functions) Amendment Regulations 2000 consultation paper is available by clicking here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/views/consult.asp
Last Thursday, the Deputy Minister for Community Care, Iain Gray, outlined the Scottish Executive's commitment to improving support for young carers' during the launch of a Young Carer's Initiative in Irvine.
The project, based at North Ayrshire Carers’ Centre, will focus on services and support for young carers' who often have their own particular difficulties, resulting in a higher incidence of school problems, and risks of ill health, poverty and social isolation.
It will raise awareness of these difficulties and provide links with schools, local authorities, health services, and volunteers, to help tackle them.
Speaking at the launch, Iain Gray, said:
"Young people represent the future of our country and they should have the opportunity to enjoy that future. They should all able to access education, enjoy good health and share leisure time with their friends.
"However, we know only too well that young carers face real difficulties in accessing the same opportunities as other children. They, indeed all carers, need to be brought out of the shadows and made to feel valued for the immense contribution they make to the lives of the people they care for and society as a whole."
The biggest ever Scottish Executive social services media campaign was held in May to alert all carers, including young carers, to sources of advice and support. A key gateway to advice being the NHS Helpline, which can give information on all the young carers projects in Scotland as well as other support services.
As part of the 'Strategy for Carers', young carers' information packs, containing information on what to do in an emergency, and setting out the rights of young carers, have been made available to all primary, secondary and independent schools in Scotland. Education Institutions have also been asked to include the needs of young carers in teachers' initial training.
The Scottish Executive has ear-marked £10m in local authority social care budgets this year for carers' services. Local authorities have been asked to ensure that when they are allocating this money they pay particular attention to the need to enhance projects for young carers. The Executive will monitor how this is carried out.
The Scottish Executive is aiming to introduce legislation as soon as possible to give young carers, for the first time, a right to a direct assessment of their care needs and to receive services to meet those needs. In the meantime authorities can support young carers in other ways.
£200,000 will be made available this year to help voluntary sector organisations implement the carers' strategy and young carers will benefit from these additional resources. Further research will also be undertaken to identify what support is currently available to young carers and what guidance may be required for professionals in health, education and social services dealing with their issues.
In addition to supporting young carers through their educational years, older teenagers who have who have been caring for some time, and may be faced with caring for some time to come, need help to access work and further education. This area will be examined more closely within the wider context of what the Scottish Executive is doing to promote equality and social inclusion.
Scotland will be fulfilling its 'civic duty' within international society by helping to establish an International Criminal Court (ICC) to deal with human rights crimes such as genocide, Deputy First Minster Jim Wallace said on Friday.
His comments came as he announced that the Scottish Executive intends to introduce legislation which will give the Court statutory authority in Scots law and enable Scottish police to co-operate with it.
Mr Wallace said:
"Europe has very recent experience of war and the atrocities of war criminals. Kosovo is a stark reminder to all countries of the need to ensure that basic human rights are safeguarded across international borders. The international community is taking action to end the culture where war criminals act with impunity. The measures I am announcing today mean that Scotland's law enforcement authorities will be able to co-operate fully with the International Criminal Court to combat serious international crimes such as genocide.
"War criminals do not respect borders, while increased travelling means that citizens of one State may become victims of serious international crime in another. There is, therefore, an increasing recognition that basic human rights are universal and need international protection. The International Criminal Court gives us a unique opportunity to do this.
"The Scottish Executive fully supports the UK Government's intention to become one of the founder members of the International Criminal Court. There has always been a strong sense of civic duty in Scotland. I believe this Bill will show that Scotland is committed to fulfilling its civic duty to take a lead on protecting human rights within international society."
The UK Government was one of the signatories when a permanent ICC was agreed at a special UN conference in July 1998. The aim of the Court is to help end the culture of impunity and deter potential future war criminals.
The ICC will have jurisdiction over serious international crimes, which are defined as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. Its jurisdiction will extend to crimes committed after the Statute is in force and in respect of crimes committed in States which are Parties to the Convention or whose nationals are victims.
The legislation planned by the Scottish Executive will enable the law enforcement authorities in Scotland to co-operate with the Court in matters such as the arrest and transfer of suspects, handing over information and conducting searches and seizures.
It will also give effect to the fines and forfeitures ordered by the ICC and incorporate crimes that are within the Court's jurisdiction into domestic law. This may mean that new criminal offences are created and that UK courts are given extra-territorial jurisdiction over offences within the ICC's jurisdiction - such as genocide - committed by British citizens anywhere in the world.
Under the Scotland Act, observing and implementing the United Kingdom's obligations is a devolved matter where the obligations fall to the Scottish Parliament. Since the necessary domestic legislation in this case relates primarily to criminal justice, the Scottish Executive intends to bring forward a separate ICC Bill.
A draft Bill was published on Friday by the UK Government and will have a similar effect in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as dealing with certain reserved matters, such as judicial pensions, on a UK-wide basis. The Foreign Secretary has indicated that he hopes to lay the Westminster Bill before Parliament as soon as parliamentary time permits. The Scottish Executive will work closely with the Scottish Parliament and the Justice and Home Affairs Committee, and colleagues in the rest of the UK on the parallel Scottish Bill.
120 States agreed to the establishment of a permanent ICC in The Hague at a special UN conference in July 1998. The Statute of the ICC will come into force after 60 States ratify it. Thus far, 14 States have done so.
Other key elements of the Statute are as follows:
The Scottish Executive has arranged for the draft Westminster Bill and consultation paper to be sent to interested parties in Scotland so that they will be able to provide comments about the way in which it is proposed to incorporate the Statute.
SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S DEBATES
Parliament returns from recess next Monday.
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