Delivering
new and better laws for Scotland
In September 2005, the First Minister outlined the legislative programme for the Scottish Parliament until 2007. One year on with a year to go, this report outlines the progress that has been made, and the plans for the coming year.
Many of the Bills contained in the programme have now been enacted.
The Police Public Order & Criminal Justice Act - The Act improves community safety by introducing football banning orders; reforming the law on public processions; changing the law on the possession, carrying and purchase of knives and offensive weapons; introducing mandatory drug testing and referral for certain arrested persons; and providing statutory incentives for providing evidence for use against others.
The Joint Inspection of the Children’s Services and Inspection
of Social Work Services Act - This legislation fulfils a partnership
pledge “to protect our most vulnerable children through a tough new
inspection system for child protection services”, by putting into
place a system of inspections of child protection services in all 32 local
authority areas as well as integrated inspections for all services for
children.
Animal Health & Welfare Act - This Act affords greater protection to animals by placing a duty of care on people who own animals and outlawing cruel practices such a tail docking of dogs and giving animals as prizes. It also enhances the Executive’s powers to respond to an outbreak of a fast spreading animal disease.
The Family Law Act puts the welfare, safety and rights of the child at the heart of new laws.
Schools Parental Involvement Act - This Act makes it easier for parents to become involved in their children’s education by placing a new duty on education authorities to promote parental involvement and giving parents a new right to request and receive advice and information on any matter relating to their own child’s education.
Human Tissue Act - This legislation ensures that where people have expressly stated what should happen to their body after death, their wishes should be adhered to. It also contains restrictions on transplants involving living donors and prohibits commercial dealing in human body parts for transplantation purposes.
The Smoking Health and Social Care Act is making Scotland a healthier place to live and work.
Other legislation passed includes
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The Management of Offenders Act
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Senior Judiciary Act
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Licensing Act
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Housing Act
- Environmental Assessment Act
Private Members Bills
Cathy is supporting colleagues who are proposing members bills in Parliament.
Sarah Boyack is seeking, in her Energy Efficiency and Micro-generation Bill, to promote energy efficiency by requiring the Executive to support small scale renewable and low carbon energy production in households and business premises.
Karen Whitefield is seeking to protect shop workers through her Christmas and New Year’s Day Trading in Scotland Bill. If passed, this Bill will prohibit large retail premises from trading on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Bill Butler’s Direct Elections to National Health Service Boards Bill would require direct elections, for the public, to the majority of places on National Health Service Boards in Scotland.
Disability Inquiry
The Equal Opportunities Committee Inquiry into Disability is due to report in October. As convener of the committee, Cathy has overseen the gathering of evidence from many individuals and groups, throughout Scotland and beyond.
“This has been a very comprehensive investigation into the current situation” said Cathy.
“The problems and obstacles facing people with disability, in their employment, education, leisure and other social activity, are many and varied.
“The Report will identify the issues and the steps needed to address these problems.“
Did you know?
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The economy has grown above average every year since the last election and there are 170,000 more people in jobs since devolution
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Crime rates are falling - violent crime is down and we have introduced new laws to tackle Scotland’s booze and blade culture, crackdown on antisocial behaviour and improve licensing
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School attainment rates are up - our 15 year olds are among the best performers in the world
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Waiting times are at their lowest levels and survival rates from Scotland’s key killer diseases are increasing
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There has been a dramatic increase in the rates of recycling and renewable energy
Add to these the smoking ban, free fruit in primary schools and the best school meals in the UK, improving the nation’s health, and free nationwide travel for older people in Scotland, and it is clear that the Scottish Parliament is delivering.
Fact and Fiction
Energy policy
During the last 6 months, there has been a lot of discussion about Scotland’s future energy policy. In the midst of this discussion, there have been a lot of myths propagated about who decides what and what decisions have (secretly) been taken.
Energy policy is reserved to Westminster while planning is devolved to Scotland. This means that, ultimately, the UK government will decide whether it is necessary for new nuclear power stations to be built to meet the future energy needs of the UK. However, the First Minister has been clear that the Scottish Executive has the power to block such proposals via planning law.
No decisions have been made. There is currently a review of energy policy taking place which is looking at what measures are needed by 2020 and beyond to tackle climate change and ensure secure and affordable energy supplies in the UK.
Whatever decisions are made as a result of this review, the fact remains that we need to debate on the best way to deal with the existing legacy of nuclear waste from our existing power stations.
Council Tax
Opposition parties have also been keen over the last six months to distort the facts on council tax. It is true that no one likes to pay tax and there are issues to be addressed regarding the affordability of the council tax especially for those on fixed incomes. For that reason, we have set up an independent review of local government finance to come up with a fairer and more equitable way of paying for our local services.
In the meantime, please be wary of those who want to “Axe the Tax”. They will probably be less keen to tell you about their replacement.
The current proposals for Local Income Tax and Scottish Service Tax mean many ordinary hardworking families would end up paying more.
Though it is true to say that two people individually earning average income would be unaffected, when they live together their combined income is well above the threshold.
I do not want to see families being penalised, which is why I prefer to await the outcome of the independent review.
Healthy Food
Jamie Oliver’s campaign to rid English schools of junk food was given a lot of publicity, but what is less well known is that Scotland has been leading the way on this issue for some time.
Our ‘Hungry for Success’ initiative, launched in 2002, has been hailed by the celebrity chef as an example to the rest of the UK and has made great strides in making sure our children are healthier and better fed at school.
Backing this initiative, Ministers launched a consultation in May on nutritional standards in Scotland’s schools and a bill will be introduced in the next session of Parliament to kick junk food out of our schools. It will place duties on local authorities to make sure the food they provide meets certain standards and promote the uptake of free school meals. It will also make sure that all schools are health-promoting environments.
If you back these plans, I urge you to contribute to the consultation by either contacting my office or logging on to www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations
The Shape Of Things To Come
The next 9 months will see the Scottish Parliament focus on:
The Schools Nutrition & Health Promotion Bill will be introduced as planned and will set up nutritional standards to deliver a consistent approach across local authorities. It will also protect children and young people from unhelpful marketing and promotion of food and drink.
The Asbestos Damages Bill will address the issues of relatives’ claims so that there is no choice to be made between claiming compensation while a person is alive or waiting for them to die. The Executive will also reverse, by the quickest means possible, the Lords ruling on reducing compensation where one company cannot be found liable.
The Protection of Vulnerable Groups Bill follows on from the recommendations in the Bichard report after the Soham murders. It will legislate on information sharing to protect children at risk, deliver new vetting and barring procedures, and prevent those unsuitable to work with vulnerable groups from doing so.
The Transport and Works Bill aims to deliver greater consistency with existing processes for handling development applications such as those applicable to trunk road developments. It will enable detailed scrutiny of the development proposals via public inquiry or local hearing.
The Aquaculture & Fisheries Bill will strike a balance for the fish farming industry between prosperity and employment for rural communities and protection of the environment, by providing a backstop for the industry’s own voluntary code. It will also bring improvements for Scotland’s anglers while protecting freshwater biodiversity.
The Adult Support & Protection Bill to protect adults at risk of abuse.
The Bankruptcy & Diligence Bill to strike a balance between debtors and creditors and allow people to get on with their lives.
The Legal Profession Legal Aid Bill to improve the service we get from the legal profession.
The Planning Bill to bring in a system that is quicker and more efficient with community involvement at its heart.
The Criminal Proceedings Reform Bill to make justice quicker and better, in particular by toughening up on bail.
The Adoption & Children Bill will strengthen families and allow more children to be part of a family of their own.
The Sentencing Bill will be tightly focussed on the issues of sentencing and knife crime. It will end automatic early release, achieve greater clarity in sentencing, and restrict the sale of non-domestic knives and swords.
Prostitution Bill -a short bill will be brought forward to address the issue of criminalising kerb crawling. Men who use prostitutes will face prosecution.
The Crofting Bill to expand and safeguard crofting for the twenty-first century and a Bill to create a Scottish Human Rights Commission are still subject to ongoing discussions regarding amendments. These Bills will continue their parliamentary progress in the autumn term.
The Judiciary Bill will be postponed from this parliamentary session. However, a Bill will be published before the election to allow the incoming Executive to go ahead after the election with placing the Judiciary Appointments Board on a statutory footing and carry out the other reforms proposed.
Children’s Hearings Bill - Having given priority this session to a Bill to enact the Bichard recommendations, the Executive has decided to consult on a draft Bill this autumn with a view which would allow for the early introduction of legislation on the Getting it Right For Every Child proposals early in the next Parliamentary Session should the incoming administration wish to do so. The draft Bill will include proposed provisions to ensure that a robust, modern framework for children’s services is put in place and to strengthen and modernise the Children’s Hearings system.