Communities Committee
The Committee continued to take stage 1 evidence on the Planning etc. (Scotland) Bill, hearing from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) in Scotland; Scottish Society of Directors of Planning (SSDP) and Scottish Planning Consultants Forum (SPCF).  Members expressed the view that the evidence was very helpful on every aspect of the Bill.  There were some particularly interesting suggestions about the culture change which would be required for the new proposals to be successful.  The witnesses also highlighted that they do not and would not support third party right of appeal.

Education Committee
The early years inquiry continued at last week's meeting.  It heard from the Scottish Preschool Play Association; the Scottish Childminding Association; the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors' Association; and the Association of Directors of Social Work.

There was also consideration of the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill. The Conservatives remain opposed to the Bill, while the SNP are reserving their position, but remain sceptical.  Prior to stage 2, the Committee would like to see the results of the consultation on the guidance on the Bill.  This may have an impact on the timing of the Bill's progress.

Enterprise & Culture Committee
Members of the Committee continue to take evidence on Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Bill, which is proving increasingly technical.  Last week the evidence came from Money Advice Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland and the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland.  From the evidence gathered so far, it seems that the vast majority of bankruptcy cases are a result of consumer rather than business debts.  The Bill aims to change Bankruptcy law to encourage entrepreneurship, but the evidence so far shows that only 10% of bankruptcy cases are due to business failures.  However, there is still a lot of evidence to gather.

On the issue of St Andrew's Day, the Committee agreed to commission external research on how other countries celebrate their national day as well as a cost/benefit analysis of options including adding or replacing a holiday and hosting events rather than a granting a holiday.  The research will also look at the implementation of each option and any practical implications.

Finally, the Committee discussed the restructuring of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Environment and Rural Development Committee
The Committee met in private to discuss a draft of its stage 1 report on the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Bill.

Equal Opportunities Committee
The evidence on the disability inquiry continued, with the Committee hearing from Deputy Enterprise Minister, Allan Wilson, on the Scottish Executive's efforts to build equalities in his Ministerial brief.  The main aim of the Committee was to move the issue of equalities up the minister's agenda. The inquiry continues.

Finance Committee
For its inquiry into the cost of the local authority single status agreement, the Finance Committee took evidence from officials from Glasgow, Fife and North Lanarkshire Councils and CoSLA.

The Committee noted that equal pay legislation has been in existence for about 30 years and that councils had reached an agreement in 1999 with unions to settle the issue.  CoSLA said that there should be a "cocktail" of funding to help meet councils' equal pay costs similar to the Agenda for Change programme for the NHS.  CoSLA estimated that between 30% and 35% of equal pay awards will be taken by the Treasury in tax and national insurance and called for the money to be returned to local government.  Ministers have advised the councils that they can fund the equal pay deals out of reserves totalling £1 billion. CoSLA, however, argues that only £250 million of these reserves have not been allocated or earmarked for capital projects, insurance requirements or Executive-set policies.

Procedures Committee
The Committee took evidence in an open forum discussion on the review of parliamentary time.  No issues of major concern were raised.  The Committee also considered a paper on minor changes to Chapters 8 and 11 of standing orders.

Subordinate Legislation Committee
The Committee looked at the delegated powers in the Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights Bill.  This Bill creates the office of the Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights and sets out the statutory functions and responsibilities of the Commissioner.  The Bill contains 3 powers to make delegated legislation, none of which are conferred on Scottish Ministers.  There are no other delegated powers in the Bill.  The Committee’s legal advisors had no comments to make on the provisions of the Bill.

The Committee then went on to consider at length the delegated powers in the Human Tissue (Scotland) Bill, as amended at Stage 2.  This Bill repeals the Human Tissues Act 1961 in Scotland and replaces it with legislation relating to organ donation and transplantation.  The Bill contains a number of delegated powers with which the Committee is content.  However the Committee did raise a number of points with the Executive, asking them to amend the Bill.  The Committee is happy that, where relevant, the Executive has done so.

Other Committee Homepages:

Audit Committee
European and External Relations Committee
Health Committee
Justice 1 Committee
Justice 2 Committee
Local Government and Transport Committee
Public Petitions Committee
Standards Committee