Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 89, 5^th November 2001

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

IN COMMITTEE

This week's likely highlights are:

• Education - meets in Galashiels to discuss the Borders Council overspend issue.
• European - hears from Foreign Office Minister, Peter Hain – the first time a UK minister has addressed a Committee.
• Finance - continues its PPP inquiry with evidence from the CBI.
• Rural Development - is still considering the Protection of Wild Mammals Bill, but has suspended amendments to, unusually, take stage 2 evidence from gamekeepers, terriermen and the hill packs.
• Local Government - hears from CoSLA in the ongoing inquiry into local government finance.

More detail will follow in tomorrow's Committee News.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

CIVIL REGISTRATION SHAKE-UP
Plans to improve the system of civil registration of births, deaths and marriages in Scotland to meet the needs of today's citizens were outlined today by the Registrar General for Scotland.

The proposals, which build on the extensive consultation by the Registrar General carried out between October 2000 and March 2001, would allow for:

• People throughout the world with a Scottish connection to be able to arrange that a birth, death or marriage be recorded at the General Register Office in Edinburgh. This would allow their life events to be included as part of their family-history records in Scotland.
• The development by local authorities of family-history search centres. This would enable searching of Scottish family records to be done locally as well as at the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) in Edinburgh.
• To improves convenience, the registration of a birth or death of a person to be carried out anywhere in Scotland, not just the place at which the event occurred.
• Notification of births, deaths and marriages to central and local government departments and third parties. This could avoid the need for people to buy certificates to give or show to government departments, banks, insurance companies etc.
• Ceremonies to mark key events in life such as baby-naming, silver-weddings, or renewals of marriage vows.
• Changes to marriage preliminaries, such as placing public notices of forthcoming marriages on a central GROS list (and possibly the GROS website) as well as local registration office noticeboards.
• The issue of an abbreviated form of death certificate which would not show cause of death. This could be used in sensitive circumstances when there is no need for the recipient to know the cause of death. A full death certificate would still be available for showing to insurance companies etc.

Full Story

DEUTSCHE BANK HEADQUARTERS OPENS
The new £30 million Deutsche Bank headquarters in Edinburgh was officially opened today by First Minister, Henry McLeish.

By investing in a custom-built new building, Deutsche Bank, which has had a presence in Scotland for 25 years, was underlining the country’s growing status as a key player in the global financial services sector, the First Minister said.

Mr McLeish continued:

"The new office is the latest phase in Deutsche Bank's 25 year association with Edinburgh that I am certain will go from strength to strength into the future. Deutsche Bank's commitment to its Edinburgh operations is a great boost to Scotland's financial sector and is testament to the Executive's recognition of and commitment to vital aspect of our economy."

The £30m custom-built office block on the north side of the city was necessitated by the growth of the bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking division, which is expected to create up to 500 new jobs in the next five years. (160 of which are already in place.)

Lord Levene, Chairman of Deutsche Bank Scotland, said:

"We chose to invest in our Edinburgh operation as it forms a crucial part of our corporate and investment banking division. We are keen to play a major role within the financial sector in Scotland and look forward to continuing our long and successful association with the city for many years to come. We are delighted that Mr McLeish has taken time to be with us today and believe it is an endorsement of role in helping maintain Scotland's leading position on the international investment stage."

Deutsche Bank is one of the leading international financial service providers. It has more than 98,000 employees, and serves more than 12 million customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Almost 50 % of the bank’s staff work outside Germany. It employs around 1160 staff in Scotland.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

The main business on WEDNESDAY is an Executive debate on The Reports into the Investigation, Legal Proceedings and Family Liaison Arrangements in the Surjit Singh Chhokar Murder Case.

This follows the Parliamentary Statement from Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd QC, on the publication of the reports in the Parliament on 24^th October 2001.

The independent reports were commissioned following the acquittal of all three prime suspects for Mr Chhokar's 1998 murder at two separate trials. At the first trial, the sole defendant was acquitted after blaming his cousin and an accomplice. When they came to trial last November, both claimed the original defendant was guilty – and also walked free.

The two inquiries were led by Sir Anthony Campbell, a member of the Northern Ireland justiciary, and Dr Raj Jandoo, Advocate. Both reports show that the prosecution service made mistakes in preparing the case before the first trial and in liaison with the family.

Sir Anthony identifies clear defects in the way the prosecution made decisions in the case but found no evidence to suggest racist behaviour or attitudes influenced decisions. He concluded that the Crown’s prosecution decisions which resulted in no one being prosecuted for the murder were wrong but he makes it clear that it is impossible to say what the outcome of the trial would have been if other action had been taken.

Dr Jandoo confirms serious failures in liaison with the bereaved relatives and partner by both the police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. He also found evidence of institutional racism in the handling of the case but recognised and welcomed the progress made by both organisations to change.

The Lord Advocate, has confirmed to the Scottish Parliament that the recommendations of the inquiries have been fully endorsed by Scottish Executive Ministers. He has also outlined a number of further reforms for the criminal justice system, including:

• A review of the work of the High Court generally in Scotland, and a review of the internal Crown Office procedures for carrying out High Court work;
• A dedicated High Court unit in Glasgow;
• An independent Crown Office Inspectorate; and
• A thematic inspection of family liaison by the Inspectorate of Constabulary, combined with a follow up inspection on race and the police in Scotland, starting in Spring 2002.

Member's Business comes from the SNP's Bruce Crawford and discusses the Rosyth-Zeebrugge Ferry Service.

THURSDAY sees another opposition morning. This week it is the turn of the Conservatives, who have elected to debate Foot and Mouth Disease - Call for a Public Enquiry and Allegations Against the First Minister.

While neither motion has been published, the titles seem fairly self-explanatory.

The full text, though, will be published in the Business Bulletin in due course.

After Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, there will be a Stage 1 debate on the School Education (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill.

Introduced on the 28^th September 2001, this bill clarifies an issue arising from the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000 by amending the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. It also brings legislation into line with the "McCrone" settlement.

The Bills general principles are:

• To clarify the law on the provision of education for children under school age for whom placing requests have been made; and
• To make provision relating to the abolition of the post of assistant head teacher.

More specifically:

• The provision concerning placing requests is to correct an unintended consequence that arose as a result of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000. By restricting placing request to children over five, the Act unintentionally excludes the parents of children starting school slightly earlier, at four and a half, from making placing requests.
• The second provision, abolishing the post of assistant head teacher, is to ensure that the pay and conditions agreement reached with the teaching profession and local authorities earlier this year can be implemented in full. Abolishing the post means local authorities will have more flexibility in their arrangements for promoted staff in schools and some of the existing restrictions can be removed.

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate on Regulation of Opencast Mining from John Home Robertson (LAB).

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