Scottish Parliament Committee News
Issue
169, 15th
Communities
Committee
Last week's meeting considered the budget
process in private.
Education
Committee
The Committee considered the
Subordinate Legislation around the Education
(Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. These
measures related to placing requests, appeals to the local authority etc.
The Committee also heard from Education Minister, Peter Peacock, on the Joint
Inspection of the Children’s Services and Inspection of Social Work Services
(Scotland) Bill.
Enterprise
& Culture Committee
The Committee welcomed Karen Gillon
(LAB) to its ranks and set about discussing its recent fact finding visits to
Finland, Sweden, Hamburg and Bremen for its business growth inquiry.
The visits gave the Committee a mix of ideas which may be of use to the
Executive when concentrating on its top priority of growing the economy.
Ideas from the Finland/Sweden visit included consensus building around the
government's key priorities; the buy-in of all stakeholders to a common vision
for the economy; and a holistic approach involving different portfolios across
government. Particular lessons were learned from this visit in the area of
R&D. Sweden has a high spend on R&D, but low commercial spin offs
- something which Scotland could avoid by learning the lessons of Sweden
including choosing R&D investments well; valuing entrepreneurs; and
increasing co-operation between companies, universities and politicians.
On the next steps for St Andrew's Day - in light of Dennis Canavan's (IND) Bill being referred back to the Committee - the Committee agreed that the convenor, Christine May (LAB) and Mr Canavan will hold a meeting with Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, Tom McCabe, to look at alternatives to legislating on the celebration of St Andrew's Day. Thereafter, an evidence session will be arranged at which Mr McCabe will present his ideas to the Committee.
Environment
and Rural Development Committee
Evidence on Mike Pringle's
(LD) proposed plastic bag tax continued last week, with a contribution
from the Environment Minister and Mr Pringle himself. The Executive has
not yet taken a position on the Bill, but has commissioned a study into its
potential impact. This concluded that the overall environmental effect of
a levy on plastic bags would be very similar to today's situation. This is
due to a number of factors, including the increase in production and use of
paper bags; the predicted increase in reusable bags and bin liners and
environmental concerns around biodegradable plastic bags. As a result, the
Executive concluded in its written submission to the Committee that the levy
would make little overall difference to the environment. In his evidence
to the Committee, the Minister noted that, if the Bill succeeded at Stage 1, the
Executive would be minded to table a number of amendments to it at Stage 2.
Mike Pringle's policy memorandum on his Bill suggests that the levy may adversely impact on people on lower incomes, noting that women, some ethnic minorities and disabled people are more likely to fall into this category. However, when questioned, Mike Pringle
said he did not accept the argument that it would disadvantage those on lower incomes. Neither did he accept the conclusions of the Executive report on the Bill in relation to job losses. And, when asked by Alistair Morrison (LAB) whether the best way to raise awareness of the issues around the environmental impact of bags was to "tax old ladies in the supermarket", Mr Pringle responded that he was not proposing a tax, but a levy.
European
and External Relations Committee
The Committee concluded the Fresh Talent
Report which will be published in the next few weeks. It then went on
to discuss the intricate "Plan D" which is about Debate and
Dialogue in EU affairs. Also discussed was a motion from Denis Canavan (IND)
on InterReg Regulations about co-operation between Scotland and Ireland.
There were no areas of dissention.
Finance
Committee
Last Monday the Committee met in Elgin
and held informal workshops with community leaders. In the formal
Committee meeting, Members reported back on the workshops, which discussed
issues such as national budgetary priorities, arterial roads, integration
of transport, pricing of transport services, economic development
inhibitors in the Highlands and Islands and the competitiveness and
financial pressures on colleges.
The Committee also considered a paper on efficient government, arising from the case study visit to Glasgow. Submissions were received from ten local authorities and it is clear that a lot of trimming of mainstream budgets is occurring; although some councils had not yet developed a baseline against which to measure the effectiveness of their work to deliver enhanced frontline services.
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, Tom McCabe and his officials presented evidence for the Committee’s inquiry into the Budget Process 2006-07. Budget Adviser, Professor Arthur Midwinter, noted that local authorities may struggle with new duties to carry out and requirements for efficiency in the context a 2.5% council tax cap. The Minister noted that the Executive believes that there is enough funding to cap increases at that level.
Back in Holyrood, the Committee met again on Tuesday. At that meeting, members took evidence from CoSLA, Glasgow City Council, the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and Tayside Police for its inquiry into the Financial Memorandum for the Police, Public order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill.
The Committee also took evidence from the Member in Charge, Colin Fox (SSP) and the Non Executive Bills Unit on the Financial Memorandum for the Abolition of NHS Prescription Charges (Scotland) Bill. In 2003-04, the total revenue raised from prescription charges in Scotland was £45.4 million and Members queried the assumptions in the Financial Memorandum about the additional uptake of prescriptions if charges were abolished.
In addition, a revised draft submission to the Executive’s Budget Review Group was agreed. The independent Budget Review Group was established by the Executive with a remit to examine whether the Executive has delivered on its priorities in the Partnership Agreement and to propose a realignment of spending, such as recommendations for savings. Given the short timescale for the Review Group to report, by February 2006, the budget adviser, Professor Midwinter, prepared a draft submission to the Group which covers the Committee’s ongoing concerns that monitoring spending against priorities is difficult because problems remain over transparency. Significant recommendations made in the submission include: defining priorities, reducing the number of strategic priorities and improved transparency for the handling of cross cutting budget issues.
Finally, the Committee agreed a report for its inquiry into the financial memorandum for the Council Tax Abolition and Service Tax Introduction (Scotland) Bill. The report notes that the Committee does not believe that the financial memorandum provides realistic financial assumptions or robust financial information. At this stage it is not possible to do a robust cost-benefit analysis and the Committee "would be concerned if such a costly piece of legislation with major financial consequences were passed without robust financial information being made available." (para 31).
Health
Committee
The Health Committee sat in
private to consider a draft Stage 1 report on the Human
Tissue (Scotland) Bill.
Justice
1 Committee
Stage 2 of the Family
Law (Scotland) Bill continued. The main areas of discussion last week
centred on the Parental Charter. A Stewart Stevenson (SNP) amendment on
statutory provision of Family Relationship Services was not agreed. The
Executive amendment on further protection from abuse was agreed. The
Committee continues its consideration of the Bill next week, where the issue of
physical chastisement is likely to dominate.
Deputy Justice Minister, Hugh Henry, also moved an Executive motion calling for the approval of draft Civil Partnership (Jurisdiction and Recognition of Judgements) Regulations 2005. After some debate, the motion was agreed.
Justice
2 Committee
The Committee took evidence on the Police,
Public order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill from the Scottish
Retail Consortium and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. The
evidence centred on public processions and the availability of offensive
weapons. A further meeting of the Committee on this issue took place
yesterday in Glasgow City Chambers. The Committee also took evidence from
the Scottish Drugs Forum and Aberdeen Alcohol and Drugs Action Team on mandatory
drugs testing. There could also agreement over Football Banning
Orders, after the Committee learned that such orders have proved successful in
England and Wales.
Local
Government and Transport Committee
The Committee considered the Council
Tax Abolition and Service Tax Introduction (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1,
hearing from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountability (CIPFA)
and CoSLA, both of whom who rejected the proposed new tax.
Procedures
Committee
Members continued their examination of
the Private Bills process. The view of the Committee is that
measures need to be put in place to make the process less onerous for members.
The Committee also took evidence from Scotland's Churches; the STUC; and Brian Taylor of the BBC for the inquiry into Parliamentary Time, which is looking at making best use of time during sitting days. The evidence took the form of a round table discussion.
Public
Petitions Committee
Three petitions were of specific interest to
members this week. The first was calling on the parliament to consider the
financial implications for elderly people with mental illnesses requiring
residential care. The Committee agreed to forward the petition to the
Health Committee for further consideration.
The second was a petition from Cllr Andrew White, calling for the removal of tolls from the Erskine Bridge. The Committee has written to the Scottish Executive to ensure it is kept informed of the progress of this issue at all stages.
The Third petition was from Kayleigh Boyd, a pupil of St Ronan's Primary School, calling on the Parliament to urge the Executive to set up a sports academy in the Scottish Borders. The Committee recommended a few routes on how to go about the issue to Kayleigh.
Subordinate
Legislation Committee
The delegated powers in the Licensing
(Scotland) Bill as amended at Stage 2 came under scrutiny. The
Committee had raised a number of points with the Executive, which agreed that a
number of powers should be amended.
The Committee then went on to consider Instruments subject to annulment which implement for Scotland security measures to reduce the risk of the spread of avian influenza. The regulations impose controls on the keeping of poultry and other captive birds.
Other Committee Homepages:
Audit Committee
Equal Opportunities Committee
Standards Committee
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