Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 33, 4th September 2000
SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
CHAMBER
Wednesday 6th September 2000
Thursday 7th September 2000
For background notes on the main debates, please see section 3.
COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Although most committees meet for the first time this week, the Transport and the Environment Committee convened last week to discuss Stage 1 of the Transport Bill and GM crops.
The highlights of this week’s committee agendas are:
Further details will be available from tomorrow’s Committee Brief.
SECTION 2 - NEWS
HENRY MCLEISH ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENTS TO THE SCOTTISH UNIVERSITY FOR INDUSTRY
Henry McLeish, Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, announced on Friday the appointment of the Chair and eight non-executive directors of the Scottish University for Industry. (SUfI)
Mr McLeish said:
"I am delighted to announce these key appointments to SUfI to work with the company's executive team. Christine Lenihan and the Board have a huge wealth of experience in business and education between them which will be a great asset to the SUfI as it develops its strategies to stimulate the demand for learning to the benefit of Scotland and its people."
Christine Lenihan, Marketing Director of Pinpoint Scotland Ltd, will took up her post as Chair on Friday, as did the non-executive directors.
The Scottish UfI, which is to be launched in October, is a key element of the Scottish Executive's vision for a learning revolution in Scotland. Its learndirect scotland services will provide a much needed central brokerage role for learning opportunities; connecting people and businesses with the organisations who can offer them the learning they need, delivered how, where and when is most convenient to them.
The non-executive directors are:
The Scottish University for Industry will connect those who want to learn with ways of doing so. The SUfI will seek to boost competitiveness and individual employability by helping to stimulate lifelong learning and improve access to high quality learning. The exploitation of information and communications technologies will be key to its activities.
The SUfI has been set up as a company limited by guarantee, which will have charitable status, reflecting its commitment to the public, with a trading subsidiary for more commercial activities. The brand name through which its services will be promoted, is learndirect scotland..
MONEY WELL SPENT SAYS WALLACE AS STRATHCLYDE RECRUIT EIGHTY NEW OFFICERS
Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace saw for himself today that Strathclyde Police are wasting no time in spending it share of the additional £8.9 allocated by the Scottish Executive to recruit more police officers throughout Scotland.
Jim Wallace joined the Prime Minister and Chief Constable John Orr on a visit to Strathclyde Police Headquarters where they inspected 80 new recruits - the largest single intake by the force since the 1970's.
Addressing the new recruits in Glasgow, the Deputy First Minister said:
"If there is one thing better than being able to announce a lot of money for police recruitment it is being able to see that money being spent quickly and effectively. Seeing the eighty new officers here today is proof that this money is being well spent and that the public will be better served as a result.
"The Executive is determined to help the police protect the public. This is the largest intake of new officers by Scotland's largest force for a generation. We will continue to provide support and resources to Scotland's police forces both for police officers and for the tools they need to do their job properly.
Jim Wallace announced in May that an extra £8.9 million was being allocated to Scotland's Chief Constables and that this would enable them to recruit more than 300 extra police officers.
The Scottish Police College at Tulliallan received £1 million of this money for the training of the new officers.
SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S DEBATES
REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS (SCOTLAND) BILL
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill at UK level has attracted most interest in regard to the powers of the state to intercept and monitor private communications. There has been some concern about the interception of e-mails and websites. However, the Scottish bill is not concerned with these areas, which are reserved. Rather, it is mainly concerned to ensure that investigatory powers are consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill, currently passing through Westminster, only applies to Scotland in part. The area known as intrusive or covert surveillance is devolved, and in regard to this the separate Scottish legislation now at stage 3 was introduced. There are also devolved competences concerning the operation of the police and the National Criminal Intelligence Service in Scotland, such as the power to enter a property under warrant; and certain authorisation powers that will fall to Scottish ministers to exercise.
Parliament approved a Sewel motion in April inviting the UK Parliament to legislate for us in respect of devolved matters. This is because there are other parts of the UK Bill that might be construed as devolved. The passing of the motion will therefore avoid subsequent doubt and legal challenges in this respect.
The Bill’s impact on human rights
The Bill will for the first time ensure that surveillance techniques used in law enforcement activities are properly consistent with the duties imposed by the European Convention on Human Rights (which goes ‘live’ from October 2000 in England & Wales but is of course already in force in Scotland). Instead of the piecemeal changes which went before in response to individual cases lost in Strasbourg, the citizen’s rights are being "brought home" by the creation of a robust and comprehensive framework for regulating the use of all these techniques with new avenues of redress to those who think that powers have been abused.
The Bill will ensure that covert investigation techniques are consistent with articles 6 and 8 of the ECHR by ensuring that the law covers:
Covert surveillance
There are three categories of covert surveillance:
Not all of these are covered in this Bill – some have their own legislation. The point is that this bill will ensure that these powers are exercised consistently with the ECHR.
Likely Discussions at Stage 3
Discussions at stage 1 and 2 have seen general agreement that the focus of debate is on striking an appropriate balance, between on the one hand the need to tackle serious crime and on the other the desire to protect the rights of individuals. The Conservatives have tended toward the former, as might be expected, the SNP by their own admission toward the latter.
As this brief goes out, amendments may still be laid. But one key outstanding issue is the duty to notify former surveillance subjects, where an amendment has been laid in the name of Christine Grahame.
This has been extensively debated, with members of all parties expressing concern. The amendment would allow people who have been under surveillance to be notified. It would be discretionary not automatic, subject to a number of tests and safeguards, and the expressed intention of those supporting it is to allow those who have been wrongly surveyed to appeal to the newly established Tribunal. How, it is argued, can a person ever appeal if they do not know they have been under surveillance? The Executive accept the logic of this, but remain concerned that ongoing operations may be prejudiced – for example, in a drug seizure situation a person may be innocent but a friend or relation may not be, and it would be harmful to alert them to the surveillance issue. The latest amendment seeks to address this concern too, and discussions continue.
Other amendments in the name of Michael Matheson seek to:
Conservative member Ben Wallace submitted amendments on 7th July that stress that a person is only to be regarded as a covert human intelligence source if they are acting under the direction of a person authorised to use such sources.
Other aspects of the UK Bill
There are six investigatory powers that are regulated by the UK Bill. Three - intrusive surveillance, directed surveillance, and covert human intelligence sources. - are being separately addressed for Scotland as outlined above. The other areas apply to the whole UK. These are:
The Bill will ensure that the power to decrypt material will be exercised at least at the same level as the power to acquire the material in the first place. If, for example, the relevant minister has authorised a particular interception, it will be the relevant minister who has to authorise decryption of that interception as appropriate.
What will be the framework of regulation?
To ensure that interception and surveillance techniques are compatible with the Human Rights Act the UK Bill sets out, or provides for subordinate legislation to set out:
For the first time law enforcement and other public authorities will have clear guidance on precisely the circumstances under which they can use particular techniques. Members of the public will benefit because it will be clear to them as to the circumstances under which these powers can be used. They will have access to an identifiable Tribunal if they believe the powers have been abused, and there will be Commissioners charged with reporting to the Prime Minister each year on the use of the powers.
The Scottish Bill makes reference to the Tribunal and the Commissioners. It is important to note that these sections refer to the bodies set up and amended by UK legislation. The Commissioner was established by the Police Act 1997, and the Tribunal is set up by the current bill.
Other changes
The UK Bill improves individual rights to privacy by extending the rigorous protections which apply to interception on public network to private networks as well. There will be a new criminal offence of unlawful interception of private networks and a civil liability on employers and others who over-step the mark in monitoring their own systems
The Bill for the first time names those agencies who are to be empowered to apply for interception warrants with a power to add or delete from this list the names of the agencies who may wish to apply for interception warrants or who should not be able to apply for interception warrants in future.
The Bill simplifies the process for approving warrants by ending the necessity for agencies to return to the relevant minister every time an individual changes his phone number or acquires a new mobile phone.
There is provision for Scottish judges to be part of the warrant procedure.
Further information
The Executive’s policy memorandum on the bill can be read in full at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parl_bus/bills/b16s1pm.pdf
The explanatory notes on each section of the bill are at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parl_bus/bills/b16s1en.pdf
The report of the Justice & Home Affairs Committee at stage 1 is available at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/official_report/cttee/just-00/jur00-05-01.htm
THE CREATIVE ECONOMY IN SCOTLAND
Around 100,000 people are already employed in the creative industries in Scotland and it is a sector which generates over £5 billion per year – 4% of our Gross Domestic Product, more than the electronics industry. The creative industries are set to grow significantly faster than the economy as a whole, and there is every indication that this trend will continue.
The creative industries have the potential for wealth and job creation, comprising architecture, advertising, arts and culture industries, design, film, interactive leisure software, music, new media, publishing, radio and television.
Clusters
Put simply, a cluster is a group of related industries and organisations. They can be each other’s customers, competitors, partners, suppliers or research and development sources. Partners in a cluster continue to compete but they also share the benefits of innovative ideas and practises that each contributes, making them more competitive.
Clusters enable economies to better create the conditions necessary for competing on a basis of innovation, higher value added and rising productivity – all of which are supportive of rising wages and standards. The jobs that are created are sustainable and offer career progression.
The cluster approach in Scotland, pioneered by Scottish Enterprise, currently applies to semiconductors, biotechnology, food and drink, creative industries and optoelectronics.
The department of Trade and Industry has strongly endorsed this approach and every one of the new English development agencies has the promotion of clusters and networks as key parts of their strategic plans.
Details of Creative Industries Cluster plan
This is a major initiative that could create up to 2,000 new jobs. The £25 million strategy aims to develop Pacific Quay in Glasgow as a digital media centre, develop a Creative Industries Campus on Tayside and establish centres for Scottish creative industries in London and New York.
The targets for the cluster are to:
The money will be spent on:
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