Scottish Parliament Committee News
Issue
197, 3rd October 2006
Members went on to consider a response from the Executive to its report entitled "Supporting New Initiatives and Leadership development." The Committee noted the response, but agreed to write expressing some concerns thereon and confirming the Committee’s expectations in relation to Executive responses generally.
Communities
Committee
Stage 2 of the Planning
etc. (Scotland) Bill continued. There was considerable debate
around a number of amendments concerning Third Party Right of Appeal.
However, at the end of the discussion the only amendments passed were those put
forward by the Executive.
Education
Committee
The Committee received a briefing on the Protection
of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Bill, which will make major changes in
the current disclosure system, before taking evidence on the Draft National
Plan for Gaelic, which was welcomed.
The meeting also heard petitions on issues including rural schools, special schools, planning and safety on school transport. The last of these has been closed and passed to Westminster.
Enterprise & Culture Committee
Environment
and Rural Development Committee
The Committee considered its report on Mike Pringle’s (LIB DEM) Environmental
Levy on Plastic Bags (Scotland) Bill. In the Committee’s view, a
levy on plastic bags cannot achieve the clear environmental benefits that the
Committee would like. Therefore, it has recommended that the Parliament
should not agree to the general principles of the Bill.
Committee Convener, Sarah Boyack (LAB), said:
"Our Committee very much welcomes the debate about environmental issues, resource use and changing individual behaviour that has been provoked by this Bill. The proposal seems very simple, but we found that the possible impacts of the levy are actually very complex on a whole range of issues. Implementing one measure in isolation doesn’t give the flexibility to make sure that the environment benefits. We agreed unanimously that the Parliament should not agree to the general principals of the Bill."Deputy Convener, Eleanor Scott (GRN), added: "Being part of an integrated strategy offers the best chance for measures to succeed and produce real net environmental improvements."
European
and External Relations Committee
Last week's meeting took evidence on
the Scottish Executive’s progress against its EU priorities for 2006 from
Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform, Tom McCabe. The Committee
also looked at its inquiry into the European Commission's Strategy for Growth
and Jobs.
Finance
Committee
The Committee considered papers from
the budget adviser for the Budget Process 2007/08. It requested
that the budget adviser provide supplementary information on Executive
performance against its targets set in Spending Review 2002. The Committee
also agreed to write to the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform to
request an update on the next local government settlement and on the
implementation of the Single Status Agreement.
Finally, the Committee agreed its approach to the Financial Memorandum of the Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Bill and agreed to adopt level 1 scrutiny (i.e. that it should seek written comments from relevant organisations then pass these comments to the lead Committee).
Local Government and Transport Committee
Public
Petitions Committee
The Committee considered a number of
petitions, but the most interesting came from a group of schoolchildren from
Cumbernauld & Kilsyth who had brought were petitioning on the subject of broken
glass in community areas and calling on drinks manufacturers to consider
using plastic containers instead of glass bottles. The Committee agreed to
write to the Executive on the viability of such a move and also to environmental
groups to assess their response.
There was also a petition from a Peter Nield JP (a Liberal Democrat Councillor for Arbirlot and Hospitalfield in Angus) who wanted to extend the smoking ban to include the outside of public buildings where smoking was not allowed. This was rejected by the Committee.
Subordinate
Legislation Committee
In a relatively short meeting, the Committee agreed to draw the attention of
Parliament to the following: the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act
2006 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2006; the Robert Gordon University
(Transfer and Closure) (Scotland) Order 2006; the Environmental Noise
(Scotland) Regulations 2006; the Race Relations Act 1976 (Statutory
Duties) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2006; and the Local Government Pension
Scheme (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2006.
Other Committee Homepages:
Edinburgh Airport Rail Link Bill Committee
Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill Committee
Equal Opportunities Committee
Health Committee
Justice 2 Committee
Procedures Committee
Standards Committee
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