SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1101 Title : Scottish Parliament: Chamber Minutes Vol 4, no 49 Author(s): Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Copyright holder(s): Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body: © Scottish Parliamentary copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Queen's Printer for Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. Text MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS Meeting of the Parliament Vol 4 No 49 Session 1 Thursday 6 February 2003 Note: (DT) signifies a decision taken at Decision Time. The meeting opened at 9.30 am. 1. Local Government Bill – UK Legislation: The Minister for Finance and Public Services moved S1M-3833—That the Parliament endorses the principle of including in the Local Government Bill powers for the Scottish Ministers to issue directions and guidance to Scottish local authorities in relation to staff transfer matters and agrees that the relevant provisions to confer executive functions on the Scottish Ministers in relation to these matters should be considered by the UK Parliament. After debate, the motion was agreed to (DT). 2. Proportional Representation (Local Government Elections)(Scotland) Bill – Stage 1: Tricia Marwick moved S1M-3727—That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Proportional Representation (Local Government Elections) (Scotland) Bill. Iain Smith moved amendment S1M-3727.1 to motion S1M-3727— Leave out from "agrees" to end and insert— "notes the Local Government Committee’s Stage 1 Report on the Proportional Representation (Local Government Elections) Bill and that any change to the election system could not come into effect until the 2007 local government elections at the earliest; further notes the publication by the Scottish Executive of its Local Governance (Scotland) Bill document which fulfils the commitments made to make progress on electoral reform and deals with wider issues to encourage greater participation in local government, and, with regard to the Proportional Representation (Local Government Elections) Bill, therefore does not agree to the general principles of this particular Bill for the reason that its provisions demonstrably do not meet the extensive requirements for renewing local democracy." After debate, the amendment was agreed to ((DT) by division: For 65, Against 54, Abstentions 2). The motion as amended was agreed to ((DT) by division: For 65, Against 53, Abstentions 3). Accordingly the Parliament resolved—That the Parliament notes the Local Government Committee’s Stage 1 Report on the Proportional Representation (Local Government Elections) Bill and that any change to the election system could not come into effect until the 2007 local government elections at the earliest; further notes the publication by the Scottish Executive of its Local Governance (Scotland) Bill document which fulfils the commitments made to make progress on electoral reform and deals with wider issues to encourage greater participation in local government, and, with regard to the Proportional Representation (Local Government Elections) Bill, therefore does not agree to the general principles of this particular Bill for the reason that its provisions demonstrably do not meet the extensive requirements for renewing local democracy. 3. Organic Farming Targets (Scotland) Bill – Stage 1: Robin Harper moved S1M-3856—That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Organic Farming Targets (Scotland) Bill. After debate, the motion was disagreed to ((DT) by division: For 39, Against 61, Abstentions 18). 4. Business Motion: Euan Robson, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S1M-3854—That the Parliament agrees— (a) the following programme of business— Wednesday 12 February 2003 9:30 am Time for Reflection followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions followed by Scottish National Party Debate on Education followed by Scottish National Party Debate on Scottish Economic Growth followed by Members' Business 2:30 pm Parliamentary Bureau Motions followed by Stage 3 of Protection of Children (Scotland) Bill followed by Executive Debate on Fisheries followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions 7:00 pm Decision Time Thursday 13 February 2003 9:30 am Justice 2 Committee Debate on its 4th Report 2003: Report on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Inquiry followed by Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee Debate on its 1st Report 2003: Report on the Future of Tourism in Scotland followed by, no later than 1.00 pm Business Motion 2:30 pm Question Time 3:10 pm First Minister's Question Time 3:30 pm Stage 3 of the Budget (Scotland) (No.4) Bill followed by Stage 1 Motion on Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Bill followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions 5:00 pm Decision Time followed by Members' Business - debate on the subject of S1M-3774 Robert Brown: Lead Pipes in Drinking Water Supplies Wednesday 19 February 2003 9:30 am Time for Reflection followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions followed by Stage 3 of Building (Scotland) Bill followed by Stage 3 of Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill followed by Members' Business 2:30 pm Continuation of Stage 3 of Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions 7:00 pm Decision Time Thursday 20 February 2003 9:30 am Parliamentary Bureau Motions followed by Continuation of Stage 3 of Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill followed by Business Motion 2:30 pm Question Time 3:10 pm First Minister's Question Time 3:30 pm Continuation of Stage 3 of Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions 5:00 pm Decision Time followed by Members' Business and (b) that the Justice 2 Committee reports to the Justice 1 Committee by 24 February 2003 on the draft Advice and Assistance (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2003, the draft Advice and Assistance (Assistance by Way of Representation) (Scotland) Regulations 2003, the draft Civil Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) (Scotland) Regulations 2003 and the Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2003 (SSI 2003/49). The motion was agreed to. 5. Question Time: Questions were answered by the First Minister and other Ministers and junior Scottish Ministers. 6. Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2003: The Minister for Finance and Public Services moved S1M-3807—That the Parliament agrees that the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2003 (SSI 2003/42) be approved. After debate, the motion was agreed to (DT). 7. Approval of SSI: Euan Robson, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, moved S1M-3848—That the Parliament agrees that the draft Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Disclosure of Information to and by Lord Advocate and Scottish Ministers) Order 2003 be approved. The motion was agreed to (DT). 8. Approval of SSI: Euan Robson, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau moved S1M-3849—That the Parliament agrees that the draft Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Investigations: Code of Practice) (Scotland) Order 2003 be approved. The motion was agreed to (DT). 9. Decision Time: The Parliament took decisions on items 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 as noted above. 10. Members’ Business: Removal of Thimerosal in Vaccines: Nicola Sturgeon moved S1M-3765—That the Parliament notes with concern that thirteen vaccines currently available in the United Kingdom, including four that are administered to children, contain thimerosal, a compound 50% comprised of ethyl mercury and already banned in the United States of America; further notes the fears of a link between thimerosal and conditions such as autism and Alzheimer’s disease, and considers that the Scottish Executive should take steps to eradicate thimerosal from vaccines available in Scotland and, in the meantime, inform the public about the availability of vaccines that do not contain thimerosal. The meeting closed at 5.41 pm. P E Grice Clerk of the Parliament 6 February 2003 This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document. Document source: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/chamber/mop-03/mop-02-06.htm Information about document and author: Text Text audience General public: Audience size: 1000+ Text details Method of composition: Wordprocessed Year of composition: 2003 Word count: 1181 General description: Chamber Minutes. See http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/chamber/journalMinutes/Minutes.htm Text medium Web (webpages, discussion boards, newsgroups, chat rooms): Text publication details Published: Publisher: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Publication year: 2003 Place of publication: www.scottish.parliament.uk Text setting Government/politics: Text type Written record of speech (e.g. hansard, legal proceedings, minutes of meetings): Author Author details Author id: 908 Surname: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body