Scottish Parliament e-Brief
Issue 50, 22nd January 2001
SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK
1. THE CHAMBER
Wednesday 24th January
Thursday 25th January
2. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Likely highlights in the Committee Chambers this week are:
This week also sees the inaugural meeting of the Justice 2 Committee. For more details, see tomorrow’s Committee Brief.
SECTION 2 - NEWS
New body piercing controls considered
Tattooing and body piercing may come under closer scrutiny in Scotland to reduce the risk of infections.
The Scottish Executive is looking at possible controls over concerns that blood-borne viruses and other infections could be caused by dirty equipment or contaminated tattoo colours.
It is estimated that more than 200 skin piercing businesses operate in Scotland, some of which are run from homes and others on a mobile basis.
Although there have been no reported case of HIV infection caused from skin and body piercing, tattooing has already caused several cases of Hepatitis B.
Malcolm Chisholm, Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care, has launched a consultation document to investigate the possibility of tighter rules.
He said: "Skin and body piercing has grown in popularity in recent years, and with this growth have come calls for a greater degree of control.
"If proper hygienic precautions are not taken there is a risk of transmission of serious infections like Hepatitis B or C - as well as other complications.
"Yet, in spite of these dangers, there are very few legal controls over skin and body piercing, no specific powers to assess the skills and training of operators and no agreed standard for inspection."
At present, with the exception of Edinburgh, skin and body piercing businesses are not required to register before beginning to practice.
£3m boost to Internet access in Scotland
The Scottish Executive is to spend £3.1 million to allow more people to use the Internet.
Two new community cyber cafes, worth £1.6 million, are to open in Glasgow. A £1.5 million network of digital advisers will work to improve Internet provision in Scotland.
Scottish government minister Margaret Curran said the aim was to have universal Internet access by 2005.
The cafes will be based in the Gorbals and Pollok. The special advisers to the public - or "champions" - should be in place by April.
The champions will work to improve Internet provision in Social Inclusion Partnership areas through working with local enterprise companies.
Announcing the initiatives at Cardonald College, Glasgow, Ms Curran said: "The Internet should be a resource for everyone, not just the well-off.
"More organisations than ever are now conducting business online, from banks to supermarkets. We simply can't afford to leave people outside this information loop."
SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS
The week in the chamber begins on Wednesday with a Ministerial Statement. Although the subject is to be confirmed, it is expected that a statement on long term care of the elderly will be made in the chamber at some point during the week.
This is followed by a debate led by the Justice 1 Committee on its Proposals for a Protection from Abuse Bill. The bill, which aims to strengthen the legal remedies for people experiencing harassment, is the first proposal for a Committee Bill to be brought before the Parliament.
In essence, the problem which this bill will address is that the 1981 Matrimonial Homes Act only offers protection to current spouses. As a result, many more people (such as former partners) are at risk of domestic violence.
Having considered various options, the Committee’s solution is to allow any person who has taken an interdict against a harasser to ask for a power of arrest to be attached to it.
Click here to read the Justice Committee’s Report on the proposed bill, which is the basis for the debate.
The final item of business is a debate on a private member’s motion from Pauline McNeill (LAB) on the Funding of Glasgow’s Museums and Galleries.
As was the case last week, Thursday is an opposition day. It therefore begins with 2 debates from the SNP on The Roads of Scotland and The Powers of the Scottish Parliament.
As with most opposition led debates, exactly what the parties wish to focus on will not be known until the motions are tabled (probably in the next few days.) When published, the full text of the motions will be contained in Section F of that day’s Business Bulletin. A transcript of the debate will be available from Friday morning from here.
There is then a Ministerial Statement, the subject of which is to be announced.
After Question Time, there follows the Stage 1 Debate of the Budget (Scotland) Bill.
The Budget is the formal way in which Scotland’s £19.7 billion of resources is spent in the financial year 2001 – 2002. The Bill represents the final stage in the new and open ways in which key decisions about resources are taken.
The budget process so far can be summarised:
April 2000
‘Investing in You - the Annual Expenditure Report of the Scottish Executive' was published on April 19th and sets out the financial foundations of the Executive's Programme for Government by portfolio. It reports on how money has been spent in previous years and how the Executive plans to spend it in the future. (Stage 1)
July 2000
The Chancellor set out conclusions of the UK Government’s Spending Review on 18th July. (SR2000) It increased the spending plans for UK and English departments for the 3 years from 2001-02 to 2003-04. Scotland then gets the ‘spending consequentials' – almost £3 billion over the three years.
September 2000
The consultation document ‘Making a difference for Scotland’ was published. It is based on the figures given in April but adds-in the Scottish priorities from the SR2000 – this is a consultation with both Parliamentary Committees and the public being invited to participate. (Stage 2)
January 2001
The formal parliamentary process of enacting the Budget Bill, starting with the Chamber debate on Thursday 25th January (there will also be the normal 3-stage parliamentary process for the Bill itself). (Stage 3)
This new process is significant and is a result of the changes included in the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Bill.
The day closes with a debate on a private member’s motion from David Mundell (CON) on Robert Burns.
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