Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 37, 2nd October 2000
SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
THE CHAMBER
Wednesday 4th October
Thursday 5th October
Please see section 3 for more information on the week’s main business.
COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Committee business this week seems to be dominated by the one key issue seizing the Scottish consciousness – salmon. Four committees will discuss the fine fish in some form or another in the coming week.
For a more in depth report of the work of the Committees, please see tomorrow’s Committee Brief.
SECTION 2 - NEWS
LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN
A significant step towards improving the life chances of children looked after by local authorities has been taken with the launch of the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care. Based in Glasgow, the institute has been formed by a consortium including Who Cares? Scotland and Save the Children, and will concentrate on the education and training of residential child care staff. Launching the institute, Sam Galbraith said:
"The Executive is determined to improve the life chances of children looked after by local authorities. We are their corporate parents and it is up to us to make sure that they are not disadvantaged by the cards that life has dealt them. Every child matters.
"It is absolutely vital that we ensure that the staff working in residential units are properly trained if we are to expect them to provide a quality service."
This initiative paves the way for the establishment of a new regulatory body for staff, the Scottish Social Services Council which will be included in the forthcoming Regulation of Care Bill.
£100 MILLION BOOST TOWARDS HOME CARE FOR THE ELDERLY
Health minister Susan Deacon is to unveil a £100 million package aimed at helping elderly people receive care in their homes later this week.
The package will form part of the Executive's response to the Sutherland report on long-term care of the elderly which will be unveiled to the Scottish Parliament by the minister on Thursday.
Under the package, extra cash will go to councils and health boards to limit the costs of home care, boost the current package to adapt old people's homes to meet their needs and offer limited free care on discharge from hospital.
Executive sources say the package is a major step forward in provision for the elderly and will attempt to offer them the dignity and respect they deserve. It follows last week’s heated debate on the Sutherland report in the Parliament.
The full package being unveiled on Thursday will be the Executive’s detailed response to the report, but a key part will be the home care provisions.
A senior Executive source said: "Somewhere around one in five of all elderly people currently in nursing or residential homes actually would not be in there if they got the care they need to stay in their own homes.
"The care needs to be tailored to the needs of the individual. We want the standard of care and service to be fair and equitable no matter where you live."
It has been estimated that of the 34,000 elderly people currently in residential or nursing care, around 6,500 could be cared for in their own homes.
The measures will include standardising the cost of home care in councils across Scotland to end huge variations in the cost of the means-tested service.
£100 MILLION TO CUR DRUG OFFENDING
A £100 million package of measures aimed at breaking the cycle of drug offending has been unveiled by the Scottish Executive.
Deputy justice minister, Angus MacKay, says the money, which will be spent over the next three years, would be used to fund a variety of initiatives aimed at reducing the problem.
He described the scheme as the biggest ever anti-drugs initiative in Scotland.
Speaking at the executive's international drug conference in Edinburgh, he said that £94 million of the total was completely new and additional funding while the outstanding £6 million had been announced previously.
The money will help fund better youth work with young people, educate them about the dangers of drugs and pay for a massive expansion in treatment and rehabilitation facilities as well as new drugs schemes for courts and better facilities for prisons.
And for the first time there will be a concerted drive to give ex-users the skills they need to stay off drugs and eventually find jobs.
Mr MacKay said: "We are all involved in drugs. Even if you don't know one of the 340 who died last year through drug misuse, or if you don't know any of Scotland's estimated 30,000 problem drug users, the fact is that we all live in communities where crime is committed to feed habits and where young people are offered drugs.
"But we shouldn't let grim realities scare us. For too long action on drugs has been split, between those who demand effective enforcement, and those who want to concentrate our resources only on treatment and rehabilitation.
"We can do both, delivering a balanced strategy to cut both the supply and the demand for drugs."
Mr MacKay added that while the investment was large the potential rewards for society were also great. He said fewer drugs on Scotland's streets, a fall in associated crime as well as a reduction in drug related deaths and harm caused by drug misuse were all laudable aims.
SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS
INTEGRATED ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM APPEALS MECHANISM
"Integrated Agricultural Control Systems" are the delivery mechanisms for European agricultural subsidies. Essentially, this move will give farmers access to an independent second opinion when they think they have been unfairly treated in relation to their subsidies. The full report of the statement will be available from the Parliament’s website.
CARBETH HUTTERS
The Justice & Home Affairs Committee has tabled a debate on the Carbeth Hutters. Almost a year ago the committee began to take evidence on the Hutters, after receiving a petition calling for legislation to give more security to people who own property built on leased land. In May the Committee reported on the issue, calling on the Executive to consider ways of providing legislative protection for hutters.
REGISTER OF MEMBERS’ STAFF INTERESTS
The Standards Committee believes that it is very important to set up a Register of Staff Interests. Compliance with the Register will be a duty on MSPs, not the staff themselves. The Register will only be voluntarily retrospective to staff already employed.
FUEL DUTY
On Thursday the SNP will use their part of their opposition day to debate Fuel Duty.
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The remainder of the SNP’s opposition day chamber time will be PR in local government.
SUTHERLAND REPORT ON LONG-TERM CARE OF THE ELDERLY
Later on Thursday there will be a Ministerial Statement on Care for Older People, when Susan Deacon will announce the Executive’s response to the Sutherland Report. For detailed information on this issue, see last week’s brief. For the details of the Executive’s formal response see the Executive’s website. The full transcript of the debate will be available from Friday on the Parliament’s website.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND COURT SERVICES BILL
Asides from member’s business, the last piece of business in the chamber this week is a Sewell motion on the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill. The Westminster Bill will tighten the provisions of the sex offenders register, and Thursday’s motion, if passed, will give the Westminster Parliament permission to legislate on our behalf on this devolved issue.
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