Scottish Parliament e-Brief

Issue 97, 14^th January 2002

SECTION 1 - BUSINESS THIS WEEK

THE CHAMBER

IN COMMITTEE

The main items of business in the Committee Rooms this week are:

• Justice 2 meets in Inverness for evidence on the Land Reform Bill. This features sporting, access and environmental organisations, including the Ramblers Association.
• Procedures considers how nominees for First Minister will be chosen in future.
• Education, on the subject of Scottish Ballet, hears from the Scottish Arts Council, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mike Watson and the company itself.
• Local Government takes evidence from Alex Neil on his Public Appointments Bill.
• Rural Development is considering the Land Reform Bill, with the Scottish Landowners' Federation in attendance along with the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust. Rural Development minister, Ross Finnie, answers concerns about a proposed ban on cockle fishing.
• Standards considers what should happen when complaints about MSPs are disclosed to the media.
• Transport & Environment continues with stage 2 of the Water Industry Bill.

SECTION 2 - NEWS

STRATEGIC BLUEPRINT FOR BETTER RAILWAYS
The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has published a report setting out the steps it proposes to take to create a safer, better and bigger railway system for Scotland.

In particular, the Plan includes details for the development of Waverley Station, capacity in the Central belt and on rail access to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports.

Over the next five years, improvements for Scotland include:

• Three new lines: Milngavie to Larkhall, Stirling to Alloa, and Edinburgh Crossrail
• Six new stations and interchange improvements at Partick, Gourock and Markinch
• Modern facilities at around 140 stations throughout Scotland
• Additional capacity on Kilmarnock and Paisley to Glasgow lines
• Refurbishment of class 318 electric trains and reliability improvements for class 170 diesel trains

The SRA's plans for Scotland are part of a UK-wide initiative to invest billions of pounds in the rail network over the next decade.

The short, medium and long term measures contained in the Plan are designed to meet the needs of passengers and freight customers and contribute to the delivery of the Executive's document Strategic Priorities for Scotland Railways.

Full Story

WELCOMING ASYLUM SEEKERS TO SCHOOLS
A newsletter was launched today to help schools across Scotland to tackle the issues faced by refugee children.

Welcoming Newcomers also aims to share best practice and promote race equality in schools.

The newsletter has been jointly produced by the Anti Bullying Network (ABN) and the Centre for Education for Racial Equality in Scotland (CERES). Both organisations are funded by the Scottish Executive Education Department and based at the Faculty of Education at the University of Edinburgh.

The Anti Bullying Network was set up to enable schools across Scotland to share good practice in tackling bullying. CERES was set up to promote education for racial equality within educational services. More information on the anti bullying network can be found at www.antibullying.net.

The target audience is school managers, teachers, Parent Teacher Association's and members of school boards.

The newsletter will be distributed to pre-school education centres, primary schools, secondary schools, the Scottish Council for Independent Schools, initial teacher education institutions, independent schools and equal opportunity interest groups.

Full Story

SECTION 3 - NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S CHAMBER BUSINESS

WEDNESDAY afternoon begins with a debate from the SNP on Scotland's Railways.

While the motion has not yet been tabled, making precise details unavailable, it is likely that this will centre on yesterday's Strategic Rail Authority report. (See above.)

Member's Business is on the subject of Renewable Energy in the Western Isles and comes from Labour's Alasdair Morrison.

THURSDAY morning sees the Stage 1 debate of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill.

Introduced on 27^th September 2001, the bill aims:

• to establish a legal right of access to information held by a broad range of Scottish public authorities;
• to balance this right with provisions protecting sensitive information;
• to establish a fully independent Scottish Information Commissioner to promote and enforce the Freedom of Information regime;
• to encourage the proactive disclosure of information by Scottish public authorities through a requirement to maintain a publication scheme; and
• to make provision for the application of the Freedom of Information regime to historical records.

The Justice 1 Committee is the lead Committee and its Stage 1 Report has broadly welcomed the Bill. It does, however, recommend that the timescales for laying ministerial certificates before Parliament should be more prescriptive.

The report also welcomes a fully independent Commissioner to promote and enforce the freedom of information regime, but would like further reassurances that adequate resources will be made available to public authorities to carry out their duties under the Bill. The Committee also recommends that the Commissioner be given enhanced power to initiate changes to the codes of practice which are central to the operation of the freedom of information regime.

Click here to read the Justice 1 Committee's Stage 1 Report

Click here to read the Policy Memorandum, Explanatory Notes and the Bill in full

In the afternoon, after Question Time and First Minister's Question Time, there will another Stage 1 debate, this time on the Marriage (Scotland) Bill.

Introduced by the Scottish Executive on 13^th November 2001, the Bill proposes to:

• permit civil marriages to be solemnised at locations other than registration offices;
• authorise local councils to approve locations for that purpose and to charge fees to meet related costs; and
• enable the Registrar General for Scotland to give guidance on the above to local councils.

Principally, the Bill allows places other than local registration offices to be venues for civil marriages, as long as they maintain the dignity of the marriage ceremony. Couples opting for a religious marriage have been able to select any location for their wedding, providing their chosen celebrant has agreed. However, couples choosing a civil ceremony have been limited to picking one of Scotland’s 247 registration offices. The Bill does away with this anomaly and enables more couples to select a different but suitable venue in which to be married.

The lead Committee for this bill has been the Local Government Committee which, while welcoming the intention of the Bill, has expressed some reservations. Key recommendations in the Committee's Stage 1 Report therefore include:

• The right of appeal against a negative decision on a venue should be on the face of the Bill. The Committee wants to see amendments to this effect at Stage 2.
• Support for evidence which argues that the Civic Government (Scotland) Act could be amended to enable its regulatory framework to be utilised for the purposes of licensing places for carrying out civil marriages, making the inclusion of a regulatory framework in the Marriage Bill unnecessary.
• Opposition to the Registrar General having a veto over a local authority decision. The Committee is supporting the evidence given by local authorities and would like the local authority to be given full responsibility for decisions on the granting or withdrawal of approval, in line with the provisions of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982.
• Some concerns (mirroring those from, among others, the Equal Opportunities Committee) that the requirement for venues to be "seemly and dignified" is highly subjective and impossible to define in any meaningful way. The Committee also agrees with the Equal Opportunities Committee's belief that the requirement that places have no recent or continuing connection with any religion or religious practice, is too restrictive and there is no reason why former churches now used for a different purpose would not be suitable.

For a full discussion of all Local Government committee recommendations, see the stage 1 report.

Click here to read the Policy Memorandum, Explanatory Notes and the Bill in full

The day concludes with a Member's Business debate on Promoting Aberdeen as Europe's Energy Capital from Richard Lochhead (SNP).

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