Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office, Edinburgh - Briefing Document Five

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Parliamentary Officer:Rev Graham Blount
Phone:
0131 558 8137

Briefing Document No 5 - Page 3 of 4

"Down to Business": The Scottish Executive's Legislative Programme and Priorities - Continued.

Finance
This does not refer to a "Scottish Budget" (separate legislation will authorise expenditure) but is a technical measure which "goes to the heart of the relationship between Parliament and the Executive" by defining how Parliament will scrutinise expenditure (as well as auditing and accountability). This will take up proposals from one of the CSG's Expert Panels. The First Minister thought that "there will be times when the Administration will curse all this scrutiny, but it is right that this machinery is put in place".

Presumably, churches will agree that proper and effective scrutiny is part of how we want to see Parliament work; especially in a climate where we may be arguing for redirection of resources, such matters should be transparent and democratically accountable.

EducationThis is the Executive's "number one priority", and the emphasis is on raising standards (as a duty of local authorities). The Bill will "confirm local control of education within a national framework". It is also seen as a key part of the social inclusion strategy - "education is at the heart of social justice; an education bill to raise standards will tackle poverty and social exclusion at its source by equipping our children to build successful lives" (Jim Wallace).

The Parliamentary debate showed unsurprising agreement for the general aim of the Bill; there were differences as to whether teachers were being seen as part of the problem or part of the solution, and how effective laying duties on local authorities would be without extra resources. The Deputy First Minister said "In addition to our commitments on raising standards in education, we are committed to the recruitment of 1,000 additional teachers, 5,000 classroom assistants and the guarantee of a nursery place for every three and four-year-old. We are also committed to additional expenditure of £21 million on books and equipment, to the reduction of class sizes and to capital investment of £600 million". There was also an indication that "proposals for Gaelic-medium education (will be) contained in the general education legislation".

Churches have long-standing involvements in education and may well wish to contribute to this debate, but will have to wait until details emerge. An innovative consultation programme is promised, and will be announced by the Minister, Sam Galbraith, on 23rd June.

Debate - What's Missing?Much of the legislative programme reflects a consensus, and the criticisms in Parliament tended to focus more on what was not included rather than what is in the proposals:

Housing and Homelessness:
the Executive accept that there are needs to be addressed; a review group under Jackie Baillie has been set up to follow up the responses to the Green Paper proposals for a review of homelessness. "This Administration is wholly committed to legislation on housing", with "wide consultation" using the "innovative procedures that this Parliament has introduced" (Wendy Alexander). See especially the SCHA response to the Green Paper for churches' perspective.

Drugs:
mentioned by several MSPs as the most pressing issue and one much mentioned during the election. The Executive response was to express a commitment to a "cross-cutting" approach, including the establishment of a "drugs enforcement agency"; most of this would not require legislation. Churches will want to monitor progress and contribute experience on this.

Freedom of Information:
a statement will be made on this by Jim Wallace on 23 June. Again, churches will monitor in terms of the gaps between our previous comments and proposed Westminster legislation.