In one sense, the job of any Parliament is to pass laws. That is by no means its only function – several key policies, reports and inquiries need no legislation – but the creation of a new, participative process for passing legislation in Scotland, for Scotland, accountable to the people of Scotland, was at the heart of the devolution campaign. By the time the Scottish Parliament is temporarily dissolved prior to the election, it will have passed nearly sixty laws re-shaping many parts of Scottish life. This SCPO Briefing looks at a "top twenty" of these, highlighting where the Parliament has made a difference; they are listed by topic, rather than in any order of priority.

1. Community Care and Health Act 2002 – This Act, which came into force on 1 July 2002, provides the framework for free nursing and personal care for the elderly. The Act’s deferred payment provisions mean that instead of having to sell their home up-front to meet "hotel costs" of residential care, people requiring care will be able to enter an agreement with their local authority to have part of their fees paid and for the balance to be settled from their estate. The rights of carers are also strengthened, with a recognition of their contribution as key providers of care; the aim is to provide a "one stop shop" for those requiring care, where before there was a need to deal separately with the NHS and local authorities.
2. Regulation of Care Act 2001 – This Act replaced the previously varied and fragmented framework for regulating care services (residential, day-care and domestic) with a national system. As well as providing national standards for services and premises, it also introduced a comprehensive regulation of the care workforce. There was little controversy about the need to drive up standards in this way, but wide concern about ensuring adequate resources to meet the new standards (particularly where local authorities use voluntary sector service providers).
3. Mental Health Bill 2003 – This Bill seeks to build a new legal framework for mental health provision, based on principles of non-discrimination and participation; but more controversially it extends compulsory powers to treat people who are living in their own homes. Many of the proposals (which came from the work of the Millan Committee) have been widely welcomed as positive, but organisations in the mental health field have expressed concerns about the elements of compulsion which allow for people to be treated against their will.

Education and Children

4. Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000 – This Act was primarily aimed at driving up school standards. However, it also establishes fundamental rights for children with regard to their education. For the first time a statutory right of every child to education is established, bringing Scotland into line with the right to education enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Act also requires local authorities to provide education which aims at developing the potential of each child, and to set improvement objectives for schools in light of national priorities identified by the Executive
5. Education (Graduate Endowment and Student Support) Act 2001 – This Act implemented the Cubie Report recommendations, ending up-front student tuition fees – the cornerstone of the coalition agreement between Labour and the LibDems. It means that students in Scotland no longer have to pay fees up front but pay a total of £2000 "graduate endowment" once they reach earnings over £10,000 a year. The Act marked a significant break from UK Government policy.
6. Children’s Commissioner Bill 2003 – This Bill resulted from an inquiry by the Parliament’s Education Committee, hearing evidence from children’s charities and from children themselves. It follows Wales, which already has a commissioner, as do many other European nations. The aim is to promote a culture of children’s rights and to provide representation for under-18s. The role of the Commissioner will be to highlight issues, make investigations and promote best practice in the delivery of services for children and young people.

Debt

7. Abolition of Poindings and Warrant Sales Act 2001 – Very much Tommy Sheridan’s Bill, though co-sponsored by the SNP’s Alex Neil and Labour's John McAllion, this Act ended the "inhumane and anachronistic" practice of debtor's possessions being forcibly sold to recover debts. Crucially, evidence given by people with direct experience of poverty-rooted debt was persuasive in building cross-party support which forced the Executive to withdraw its opposition in the final stages of the debate, while delaying implementation until a "workable but humane alternative" to warrant sales could be devised (see below!).
8. Debt Arrangement and Attachment Act 2002 – This Act repealed the Abolition of Poindings and Warrant Sales Act, only to abolish warrant sales again while replacing them with the "exceptional attachment orders" which are claimed to be a "workable but humane alternative". For many, these seem like a re-branding of warrant sales rather than an alternative. The new debt recovery process will include much more advice provision, and a debt arrangement scheme which will allow debtors to repay debts over an agreed period free of other forms of debt recovery; but since such schemes will only be available to those able to repay their debts in full within 5 years and make no provision for freezing interest, it is not clear how exceptional these attachment orders will be in practice.
9. Mortgage Rights Act 2001 – Backbencher Cathie Craigie’s Bill was designed to protect people in financial difficulties from losing their homes. This Act allows courts to consider the circumstances of debtors when the mortgage provider applies for a repossession order. The court can order that a repossession be delayed to give extra time for the debtor to either get back into a position where they can cope with mortgage payments again, or find alternative accommodation. The debtor’s partner can also apply for this breathing space, which will help those who have split up from the partner who is the debtor but remain in the home, often with children. The Executive estimated that up to 1,350 households will be helped through this legislation to remain in their homes.

10. Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act 2000 – This Act symbolically ended the archaic feudal system of land ownership in Scotland, where "feudal superiors" were able to exercise control over property they had sold. It paved the way for later reform, including the Land Reform Bill and the Agricultural Holdings Bill.
11. Land Reform Act 2003 – Another powerfully symbolic, but controversial, piece of legislation, this gives, for the first time, the "right of responsible access" to Scotland’s countryside. Rural communities are given a right to buy land in which they have registered an interest, but only if the land comes on the market, and crofting communities are given an absolute right to buy the land they work and live on. Though likened by some landowners to a "Mugabe style land grab", the Executive has argued that the Act will redress one of the most concentrated patterns of land ownership in Europe, by empowering rural communities to promote their own sustainable development. Landowners will almost certainly challenge parts of the Act in the courts, and the impact and long-term effectiveness of the legislation remain to be seen.
12. Agricultural Holdings Act 2003 – This aims to provide a better legal framework for farming tenancies and will give secure tenant farmers first refusal on their farms if they come up for sale; an attempt to make this an absolute right to buy their land was defeated.

Housing and Homelessness

13. Housing Act 2001 - Enacted in July 2001, this Act aims at "fostering successful balanced communities with high quality affordable houses to rent and to purchase." Paving the way for transfer of local authority housing stock to housing associations, it introduces the Scottish Secure Tenancy to standardise the tenancy agreements of council and housing association tenants, with enhanced rights against eviction and to information and consultation from their landlord, and a "modernised right to buy". The Act requires local authorities to assess homelessness in their area and develop a strategy to tackle it. Communities Scotland was established as a new agency to assist in the regeneration of communities and improve housing standards. The Act also made statutory the Executive commitment to end fuel poverty by 2016, so far as reasonably practicable".
14. Homelessness Act 2003 – This removes some of the hurdles for homeless people seeking housing by diluting the emphasis on criteria of "priority need", restricting use of "intentionally homeless" as a ground for refusing to provide housing, and increasing the obligation to provide temporary housing. Ministers are also given the power to suspend (and reintroduce) the "local connection" rule for housing applications This new framework has been broadly welcomed, with concerns expressed about adequacy of resources and of support services to ensure it achieves its objectives.

Criminal Law

15. Criminal Justice Act 2003 - The Criminal Justice Act is a varied package of measures, including (a) greater recognition of the rights of victims (b) expanded criminal record checks for those working with children and vulnerable adults (c) clarification of the law on physical punishment of children (d) introduction of interim anti-social behaviour orders with tough penalties, to deal faster with nuisance neighbours (e) greater penalties for offences involving child pornography and for sexual offences (f) recognition of religious hatred as an aggravating factor in criminal offences (g) provision for the greater use of electronic tagging (h) new "lifetime restriction orders" for serious, high-risk offenders (i) a specific power of arrest for breach of a non-harassment order and (j) reforming the trial procedure for sexual offences committed abroad.

Protection from Abuse

16. Protection from Abuse Act 2001 – This was the first Committee Bill to be passed by the Parliament. Coming into force in February 2002, it ended an anomaly depriving divorced and cohabiting partners of legal protection from abuse by their current or former partner. Previously, someone in breach of an interdict could be arrested only if a criminal offence had been committed; otherwise there was no power to remove them from the scene (although ¾ of murders by a partner happen after the relationship has ended). Where previously the power of arrest could only be attached to a matrimonial interdict, it is no longer necessary to establish that there is a personal relationship to the alleged abuser; it is now sufficient to demonstrate that granting the power is necessary to ensure the applicant's protection from abuse (either psychological or physical).
17. Sexual Offences Act 2002 – Prompted by concerns over cross-examination of a rape victim by her attacker in court, this Act removed that right of an accused attacker. It also placed greater restrictions on the use of sexual history in cross-examination, and provided for this to be balanced by the disclosure of any previous sexual offence convictions of the alleged attacker. The accused in a rape trial now has to be represented by a lawyer throughout the proceedings. When the Act came into force, Jim Wallace said it would "reduce some of the fear factor that deters many victims from coming forward."
18. Protection of Children Act 2003 – This Act establishes a list of individuals unsuitable for working with children and seeks to prevent those on the list from doing so. It places a duty on employers and the courts to refer people to the List of Persons Unsuitable to Work with Children if they have harmed children or put them at risk of harm. It will be an offence for those on the list to work with children and for anyone to employ them for this purpose. Those on the list will have the right to appeal, and to apply for a periodic review. A sheriff will order the removal of their name only if satisfied that the individual no longer poses a risk.

Other

19. Freedom of Information Act 2002 – This Act establishes for the first time a public right to access government information, and creates the post of an independent Information Commissioner to promote and enforce the legislation, with powers to order disclosure of information. While broadly similar to Westminster legislation, this Act goes slightly further in the direction of disclosure. It covers information held by Parliament and the Executive, the Scottish NHS, the police, local authorities, colleges and universities, and other organisations in the public sector.
20. Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 – This Act made three key changes to local government: (a) providing a statutory basis for "community planning", to ensure partnership working between local authorities and community groups in planning for their future (b) replacing the previous compulsory competitive tendering process with a duty on councils to secure "best value", and (c) giving councils a general power to advance the well-being of their communities.