Jack McConnell spoke of "innovating and investing in skills and knowledge" and how the Bill will "ensure the strategic development of these two critical education sectors for the economic, social and cultural benefit of Scotland". The Conservatives supported the increased emphasis on further education and vocational courses for 14-16 year olds, citing that employers were in desperate need of young well trained people with vocational qualifications to meet the skills gap.

The Bill will:

merge the current Funding Councils (as recommended by the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee), who will have to give regard to the future skills needs of Scotland;

 

provide one strategic organisation for Higher and Further Education in Scotland, establishing a more integrated view of lifelong learning;

 

provide a "coherent point of linkage" between the objectives of post-school education and Scotland's national economic objectives; and

 

aid achievement of parity of esteem for various types of learning and learning providers, recognising the different, and often complementary strengths of different institutions.

6.    Gaelic Language Bill

 

Jack McConnell told Parliament that his "ambition is to see Gaelic grow once more in its everyday usage across Scotland. Something more Scots can feel part of, and proud of". However, John Farquhar Munro (Lib Dem) stated that changes in the draft Bill were needed because it did not cater for "education through the medium of Gaelic, especially in high schools, or about training for teachers who were willing to teach through the medium of Gaelic"; he claimed that, every year, there were 30 teachers fewer than were needed for Gaelic-medium teaching.

The main provisions of the Bill will be

establishment of the Gaelic development body, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, on a statutory basis to oversee the development of the language;

 

introduction of a National Gaelic Language Plan to promote the use of the Gaelic language; and

 

introduction of Gaelic language plans for public authorities, where appropriate, to encourage and facilitate the use of the language in public life.

7.    Health Service (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

 

Proposals in this Bill will include:

modernising and strengthening the legal framework for hospital post-mortem examinations and organ and tissue donation and transplantation;

amending the Anatomy Act "to ensure its continuing relevance to 21st century needs";

modernising dental services;

introducing free eye and dental checks for all (The Executive are "exploring" with the dental profession the possibility of providing free dental checks for those over 60, even before the new legislation can take effect);  

modernising pharmaceutical services;

allowing Ministers to form or take part in joint venture companies involving public and private sector partners. This is intended to help develop primary care and community-based facilities and services;

amending the Regulation of Care Act 2001, including putting employers under a duty to comply with the Codes of Practice for Social Service Workers and Employers;

amending Part 5 of the Adults with Incapacity Act 2000 to improve its operation;

ending the NDPB status of Scottish Hospital Endowments Research Trust; and

enabling Ministers to legally transfer funds on an ongoing basis to the Skipton Fund so that lump sum payments can be made over an extended period of time to people who contracted Hepatitis C from blood or blood products.

8.    Housing Bill

 

Jack McConnell said that the Bill will "modernise the buying and selling of homes across Scotland, raise standards in Scotland's private housing stock, strengthen the rights of private sector tenants and help local authorities deal with areas of disrepair and decline". He promised that the Executive will provide "increased investment and more homes for rent and low-cost ownership". Roseanna Cunningham (SNP) felt that the Executive had offered nothing concrete on affordable housing and stated that "Scotland needs more affordable housing now and we cannot allow a development deadlock to put the hems on that ambition".

The Housing Bill will:

modernise local authority powers to require or carry out work on privately-owned houses in disrepair and to promote area renewal;

add electrical safety and basic thermal insulation to the Tolerable Standard;

end the link between statutory notices and mandatory grant (to be replaced by mandatory assistance, ranging from advice to loans or grants);

provide powers to introduce the single survey and energy performance certificates;

improve the rights of private sector tenants, especially regarding repairs; and

provide better protection for owners of mobile homes who rent stances.

9.    Licensing Bill

Proposals for overhaul of Licensing Law have already been the subject of consultation "to bring Scotland’s behaviour on alcohol and the use of alcohol into the 21^st century". Jack McConnell said the Bill "will crack down on the irresponsible promotions that encourage binge drinking, end the saturation of off-licences, pubs and clubs". Michael Matheson offered SNP support, agreeing that existing licensing laws "neither reflect contemporary attitudes towards alcohol nor tackle effectively irresponsible or criminal behaviour that is linked to alcohol misuse".

Proposals in the Bill will be designed to:

improve the monitoring of licence condition compliance and introduce tougher sanctions against those who flout them;

"crack down" on irresponsible drinks promotions which encourage binge drinking and lead to antisocial behaviour;

allow local flexibility within a clear national framework;

introduce new requirements for licensing boards to assess local provision, to determine when a saturation point has been reached;

improve the objection process, widening the range of local people able to object; and

replace "the present inflexible system of 'fixed' opening hours with extensions", with a tailored 'premises by premises' approach.

10.            Prevention of Female Genital Mutilation Bill

 

Female genital mutilation was described by Jack McConnell as "a grotesque crime"; although it is unlawful in Scotland, it is not currently an offence in Scots law to send a girl abroad to have the procedure carried out. The Executive say they are not aware of any genuine religious or cultural justification for this practice.

The Bill will:

increase the maximum penalty for carrying out this procedure from 5 to 14 years; and

make it unlawful to send a girl abroad to have the procedure carried out, irrespective of whether it is lawful or not in the country concerned.

11.            Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences Bill

 

The Executive will introduce this new Bill "within weeks" to protect children from those who use the internet to groom children for sexual abuse and exploitation. The Tories welcomed this, as Margaret Mitchell had championed the issue when previous Executive responses suggested common law remedies were sufficient.

The Bill will:

introduce an offence of meeting or travelling to meet a child after "grooming" for sexual purposes (maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment);

introduce Risk of Sexual Harm Orders, to restrict the activities of individuals who have displayed inappropriate sexual behaviour towards children, even if they have not been convicted of an offence; and

extend the use of Sex Offence Prevention Orders, to apply to those who have been convicted of crimes with a sexual or violent element, without the need for evidence of further behaviour post-conviction and a further application.

12.            Transport Bill

 

According to Jack McConnell, this Bill is "the next step ... to better align our transport infrastructure with the needs of a modern Scotland, to meet the demands of business and communities". He said that it will particularly "bring an end to poorly co-ordinated road works that can cause traffic congestion, cost business money and cause needless delays for all road users. And it will provide the mechanism to deliver on our commitments to introduce Scotland-wide concessionary travel schemes for pensioners and others". Chris Ballance of the Greens called it "a missed opportunity" because "it will contain no clear strategy for dealing with the real problem of too much road traffic".

The Bill will:

create regional transport partnerships for the whole of Scotland;

tighten the regulation of utility company road works; and

give Ministers powers to run concessionary travel schemes through the new national transport agency.

THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE’S SPENDING PROPOSALS 2005 - 2008

 

Andy Kerr, the Finance Minister announced that Executive spending in total would rise from £25bn this year to £30bn in 2007-8, which is an annual average increase of 3.6% (after adjusting for inflation). Mr Kerr has adopted the ‘do less better’ approach as he states that he intends to make sure our money is spent wisely by having "fewer targets this year than in the 2002 Spending Review" in order to be "even more focused and relevant".

The Executive’s top priority continues to be economic growth and the spending plans announced in the budget are a reflection of this. There are a number of spending increases in different portfolios such as transport, enterprise & lifelong learning and education and while the money will contribute towards other priorities, the overarching objective is to promote Scotland’s economic development.

Education

The Finance Minister has promised to increase the number of teachers to 53,000 by September 2007 so that children can benefit from smaller class sizes – "one for every 18 Scots between the ages of three and eight". The spending plans state that these extra teachers will be targeted towards reducing the class sizes of Primary 1 and of Maths and English classes in the first and second years of secondary school. The review also sets the target of completing 300 either new or substantially refurbished schools by December 2009. Mr Kerr said that further plans and targets for education will be announced by Peter Peacock, the Education Minister in the coming weeks.

Health

Health already accounted for over a third of the Executive’s total spending and Mr Kerr announced further increases, with the result that by 2008 spending on the NHS will be over £10bn a year, which is equivalent to "spending more than £2,000 per person on health services". Most of the money will be spent on staff contracts and the "re-designing" of services.

He also said that the Executive plan to "promote good health and tackle ill health" and a measure towards this aim is going to be the introduction in every school of fresh chilled water, which pupils will have access to. Although the Health Minister will announce full details about plans for the NHS, Mr Kerr did reveal one other new measure – "by the end of 2007 no one will wait more than 16 weeks from specialist referral to treatment for cardiac intervention of any kind".

Higher and Further Education

Mr Kerr said that this spending review had prioritised the needs of Scotland’s universities and colleges and so awarded them a 30% increase in spending by 2007-8, responding to a "determined campaign" that principals had undertaken in order to keep up with English universities who are going to benefit from the introduction of top-up fees.

Housing

The Finance Minister explained that the third pillar of his budget was fairness, which he felt meant that everyone should have access "to a proper home". To this end, Margaret Curran has announced that the overall target of construction approval for affordable housing will be raised to 21,500 (from 18,000) by 2008. This breaks down to 6,400 new homes next year, rising to 7,100 in 2006-7 and 8,000 in 2007-8. Out of the 21,500 homes, 16,500 will be made available for social rent and the remaining 5,000 will be for low cost home ownership. She promised that the Executive will "tackle acute demands for affordable housing in pressured housing markets – urban and rural". The rural share of the housing programme for this year has been increased to 29% - "an all-time high".

Justice

The spending review reiterates the Executive’s previous justice plans, such as provision for the Scottish Prison Service to establish two new prisons and further modernisation of the prison estate to tackle overcrowding and slopping out. It also emphasises that their "plans to reduce re-offending are a key component in our long term criminal justice strategy". Resources will also be focused on prosecuting serious crime, and investment was promised in "measures to help re-integrate prisoners at the end of their sentence while safeguarding the community".

Local Authority Funding

Local authorities were informed that their total revenue support will increase to 9.7% by 2008. Mr Kerr said in his statement that local authorities "asked us to ensure that we fully funded any new commitments we want them to deliver in this budget. I can confirm that we have done so". However, the President of COSLA has responded by saying that the increase would only allow councils "to stand still but not much more". This has led opposition MSPs to voice the anxiety that council tax bills could rise as local authorities try to make ends meet.

Transport

Overall funding for transport will increase from £1.3bn to £1.9bn. Most of that money has been set aside for major road and rail projects including new rail links for Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, trams in Edinburgh and a bypass for Aberdeen.

Funding specifically devoted to public transport will rise by over 50% from £627 million in 2004-5 to £973 million in 2007-8. Concessionary travel for OAPs and those with disabilities is to become a nationwide scheme and for the first time children in full-time education will be included in the scheme (£96 million has been allocated for this scheme in 2006-2007, which will rise to £100 million for 2007-8).

Reaction

First reactions to the Budget Statement by the other parties tended to highlight the (claimed) ineffectiveness of increased spending in previous years (especially in the health service), and the failure to make a significant impact on poverty - though Wendy Alexander robustly defended the Executive on this: "we have lifted one in four children in Scotland out of poverty and that we will halve the number of children in poverty during the course of this spending review and the next—a mere half dozen years. The number of children lifted out of poverty in the United Kingdom is more than 600,000 and the number up here is more than 100,000". Richard Lochead, however, argued that "Since devolution, the Executive's budget has increased by about 50%, yet ... when the Scottish Parliament was established, the figure for relative poverty among children in Scotland was 40%, but last year the figure was still 40%.

For the Greens, Mark Ballard complained at the focus on "transport projects that take us in the wrong direction at the expense of the plans that would meet people's actual transport needs ... We are stuck on the same old agenda of motorways and runways rather than railways".

Several MSPs commented on the fact that this "budget" only covered half of the picture; it was not a "grown up political strategy that sets the personal tax rates and macro-economic direction for the nation" (Alistair Morgan). Most MSPs seemed to agree there was something wrong in this situation, although there is no consensus about how to remedy the defect – Jeremy Purvis of the LibDems made a strong case for fiscal federalism.