SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1181 Title : Scottish Parliament: Business Bulletin 24/1999 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 BUSINESS BULLETIN 24/1999 Thursday 24 June 1999 Business Bulletin No. 24/1999 (Revised 1.30 pm) Section A - Daily Business List Section B - Business Programme Section E - Written questions lodged on 23 June 1999 Section F - Motions and Amendments Section I - Progress of Parliamentary business Announcements Supplement to Business Bulletin No. 24/1999 BUSINESS BULLETIN 24/1999 (Revised 1:30 pm) Thursday 24 June 1999 Section A – Daily Business List 2.30 pm Question Time— 1. Michael Russel: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to bring forward proposals for a review of the structure and function of the Scottish Arts Council. (S1O-82) 2. Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce measures to assist smaller business premises in relation to the impact of the non-domestic rates revaluation to take effect from 1 April 2000. (S1O-75) 3. Mike Watson: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to strengthen its relationship with the voluntary sector in Scotland. (S1O-108) 4. Bruce Crawford: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that the funding of area tourist boards operates on a sustainable basis for the next financial year. (S1O-72) 5. Maureen Macmillan: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on devolving responsibilities to schools as part of an overall drive to push up school standards. (S1O-103) 6. Hugh Henry: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on how it intends to improve the standard of early years provision in Scotland. (S1O-110) 7. Fiona Hyslop: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to assist people with disabilities living in existing public sector housing. (S1O-78) 8. Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to introduce a distinct scheme to promote safety improvements in the Scottish fleet in view of the termination of the Fishing Vessel (Safety Improvements) (Grants) Scheme 1995 (S.I.1995/1609), and given the special circumstances of the Scottish fishing industry. (S1O-66) 9. Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to fulfil its commitment to develop a national cultural strategy. (S1O-113) 10. Trish Godman: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote sport and other physical activities in schools. (S1O-100) 11. Tricia Marwick: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle the level of teenage pregnancies in Scotland. (S1O-74) 12. Mr Kenny MacAskill : To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to extend the commitment in respect of the Skye Bridge to freeze tolls at their current level to other bridges and transport infrastructure schemes, in particular to the Forth, Tay and Erskine bridges. (S1O-79) 13. Elaine Smith : Withdrawn 14. Nicola Sturgeon: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change the current method of target setting in schools. (S1O-80) 15. Marilyn Livingstone: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish figures regarding the numbers of Scottish students exempt from the payment of any tuition fees. (S1O-117) 16. Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to establish a power of general competence for local government in Scotland. (S1O-68) 17. Mr Lloyd Quinan: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to implement to alleviate fuel poverty among people with disabilities. (S1O-96) 18. Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to take to reduce dental decay in children under the age of 14. (S1O-111) 19. David Mundell: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to alter the operational boundaries of Dumfries & Galloway Police Force or Dumfries & Galloway Fire Brigade. (S1O-89) 20. Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has within the Scottish criminal justice system to address the issue of domestic violence. (S1O-98) 21. Mr John McAllion: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the criteria used for distributing government grants to local authorities in Scotland. (S1O-101) 22. Brian Adam: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on the total cost of abolishing Skye bridge tolls with immediate effect. (S1O-83) 23. Allan Wilson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on improving standards in Scottish schools. (S1O-107) 24. Mr Brian Monteith: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to include Jordanhill School in its plans to return all directly funded schools to local authority control. (S1O-122) 25. Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote the involvement of local citizens in the democratic renewal of communities across Scotland. (S1O-114) 26. Karen Whitefield: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make a statement on improving the quality of bus services in Scotland. (S1O-120) 27. Mr Michael McMahon: To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled students in Scotland it intends will benefit from the extension of the non-means tested Disabled Students Allowance to full time students. (S1O-124) 28. Scott Barrie: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to take to reduce child poverty in Scotland. (S1O-106) 29. Mr Duncan Hamilton: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to affirm its commitment to a maximum working week of 56 hours for junior doctors in Scotland. (S1O-87) 30. Bristow Muldoon: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on the New Community Schools initiative and its plans to enhance the current programme. (S1O-112 3.00 pm Open Question Time— 1. Mr John Swinney: To ask the Scottish Executive to outline its plans for economic development and employment creation in Scotland. (S1O-91) 2. David McLetchie: To ask the Scottish Executive what failures of educational provision by local authorities the creation of a statutory duty on them to raise standards in the proposed Education Bill is intended to redress. (S1O-86) 3. Mr Murray Tosh: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to give an indicative timetable for the completion of the Scottish Strategic Roads Review and for reporting its findings to the Parliament. (S1O-93) followed by, no later than 3.15 pm Statement by the Minister for Finance on Financial Issues followed by Motion by Henry McLeish: Economy of Scotland— S1M-68 Henry McLeish: That the Parliament notes that unemployment in Scotland is falling and is low by historical and international standards, and that employment is increasing, and looks forward to the Executive building on Scotland’s economic success by investing in jobs and skills, promoting a stable and competitive environment for enterprise and encouraging the growth of new businesses. S1M-68.1 Mr John Swinney: As an amendment to the motion S1M-68 in the name of Henry McLeish leave out from "is falling" to end and insert— "remains a grave and ongoing economic and social problem which is not addressed by a partial representation of statistics; and calls on the Executive to develop an economic strategy that has long term sustainable growth in the economy and jobs as its focus and addresses the need to— (a) recognise small businesses as the engine of growth in the economy and the labour market and tackles the need to improve entrepreneurship and business start-up, survival and expansion with particular emphasis on reducing business rates; (b) develop cohesive economic development structures through greater synergy between agencies involved in economic development, inward investment, exporting and tourism and to gain maximum benefit from Scotland’s external representation; (c) produce compelling evidence that the New Deal is delivering long-term structural change in the labour market that will be sustained when the New Deal programme has concluded, and (d) generate competitive advantage for companies in Scotland." S1M-68.2 Mr David Davidson: As an amendment to the motion S1M-68 in the name of Henry McLeish leave out from first "in" to end and insert— "is increasing in parts of Scotland, and calls upon the Scottish Executive not to increase the tax regulatory burden on business in the interest of expanding employment". 5.00 pm Decision Time BUSINESS BULLETIN 24/1999 Thursday 24 June 1999 Section A – Daily Business List Thursday 24 June 9.30 am Motion by Mr Alex Salmond: Privatisation of Public Services— S1M-67 Mr Alex Salmond: That the Parliament condemns the privatisation of health, education, transport and other public services through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) schemes; notes the mounting body of evidence that PFI and PPP, introduced by the Conservative Government and continued by the Labour Government, are an inefficient and expensive method of funding vital public services which also undermine the pay and conditions of public service staff; calls upon the Scottish Ministers to disclose the annual expenditure commitments associated with each public project involving private finance, and the rate of return that private partners receive for the capital that they commit; urges the Scottish Ministers to examine alternatives to such private financing, and calls on the Scottish Ministers to bring forward proposals to introduce Scottish Public Service Trusts. followed by Business Motion— S1M-71 Mr Tom McCabe on behalf on the Parliamentary Bureau: That the Parliament agrees the following programme of business— Friday 2 July 9.30 am Question Time 10.00 am Open Question Time followed by, no later than 10.15 Statement by the Minister for Communities and debate on the McIntosh Committee report followed by, Motion to establish an Independent Committee of Inquiry on Student Finance followed by, Motion on Appointments to Committees (to be taken without debate) followed by, Motion on the Register of Members’ Interests (to be taken without debate) 12.30 pm Decision Time followed by Members’ Business— Debate on the subject of motion SM1-58 in the name of David Davidson on the fish processing industry To be concluded no later than 30 minutes after the commencement of the debate without any question being put. Wednesday 1 September 2.30 pm Business Motion followed by Executive Business 5.00 pm Decision Time followed by Members’ Business Thursday 2 September 9.30 am Executive Business 2.30 pm Question Time 3.00 pm Open Question Time followed by, no Executive Business later than 3.15 5.00 pm Decision Time followed by Members’ Business 2.30 pm Question Time— 1. Michael Russell: To ask the Scottish Executivewhether it intends to bring forward proposals for a review of the structure and function of the Scottish Arts Council. (S1O-82) 2. Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce measures to assist smaller business premises in relation to the impact of the non-domestic rates revaluation to take effect from 1 April 2000. (S1O-75) 3. Mike Watson: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to strengthen its relationship with the voluntary sector in Scotland. (S1O-108) 4. Bruce Crawford: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that the funding of area tourist boards operates on a sustainable basis for the next financial year. (S1O-72) 5. Maureen Macmillan: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on devolving responsibilities to schools as part of an overall drive to push up school standards. (S1O-103) 6. Hugh Henry: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on how it intends to improve the standard of early years provision in Scotland. (S1O-110) 7. Fiona Hyslop: To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to assist people with disabilities living in existing public sector housing. (S1O-78) 8. Richard Lochhead: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to introduce a distinct scheme to promote safety improvements in the Scottish fleet in view of the termination of the Fishing Vessel (Safety Improvements) (Grants) Scheme 1995 (S.I.1995/1609), and given the special circumstances of the Scottish fishing industry. (S1O-66) 9. Des McNulty: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to fulfil its commitment to develop a national cultural strategy. (S1O-113) 10. Trish Godman: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote sport and other physical activities in schools. (S1O-100) 11. Tricia Marwick: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to tackle the level of teenage pregnancies in Scotland. (S1O-74) 12. Mr Kennt MacAskill : To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to extend the commitment in respect of the Skye Bridge to freeze tolls at their current level to other bridges and transport infrastructure schemes, in particular to the Forth, Tay and Erskine bridges. (S1O-79) 13. Elaine Smith: Withdrawn 14. Nicola Sturgeon: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to change the current method of target setting in schools. (S1O-80) 15. Marilyn Livingstone: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish figures regarding the numbers of Scottish students exempt from the payment of any tuition fees. (S1O-117) 16. Mr Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to establish a power of general competence for local government in Scotland. (S1O-68) 17. Mr Lloyd Quinan: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to implement to alleviate fuel poverty among people with disabilities. (S1O-96) 18. Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to take to reduce dental decay in children under the age of 14. (S1O-111) 19. David Mundell: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to alter the operational boundaries of Dumfries & Galloway Police Force or Dumfries & Galloway Fire Brigade. (S1O-89) 20. Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has within the Scottish criminal justice system to address the issue of domestic violence. (S1O-98) 21. Mr John McAllion: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the criteria used for distributing government grants to local authorities in Scotland. (S1O-101) 22. Brian Adam: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on the total cost of abolishing Skye bridge tolls with immediate effect. (S1O-83) 23. Allan Wilson: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on improving standards in Scottish schools. (S1O-107) 24. Mr Brian Monteith: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to include Jordanhill School in its plans to return all directly funded schools to local authority control. (S1O-122) 25. Cathie Craigie: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote the involvement of local citizens in the democratic renewal of communities across Scotland. (S1O-114) 26. Karen Whitefield: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make a statement on improving the quality of bus services in Scotland. (S1O-120) 27. Mr Michael McMahon: To ask the Scottish Executive how many disabled students in Scotland it intends will benefit from the extension of the non-means tested Disabled Students Allowance to full time students. (S1O-124) 28. Scott Barrie: To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it intends to take to reduce child poverty in Scotland. (S1O-106) 29. Mr Duncan Hamilton: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to affirm its commitment to a maximum working week of 56 hours for junior doctors in Scotland. (S1O-87) 30. Bristow Muldoon: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make a statement on the New Community Schools initiative and its plans to enhance the current programme. (S1O-112) 3.00 pm Open Question Time— 1. Mr John Swinney: To ask the Scottish Executive to outline its plans for economic development and employment creation in Scotland. (S1O-91) 2. David McLetchie: To ask the Scottish Executive what failures of educational provision by local authorities the creation of a statutory duty on them to raise standards in the proposed Education Bill is intended to redress. (S1O-86) 3. Mr Murray Tosh: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to give an indicative timetable for the completion of the Scottish Strategic Roads Review and for reporting its findings to the Parliament. (S1O-93) followed by, no later than 3.15 pm Ministerial Statement on Financial Issues followed by Motion by Mr Henry McLeish: Economy of Scotland— S1M-68 Henry McLeish: That the Parliament notes that unemployment in Scotland is falling and is low by historical and international standards, and that employment is increasing, and looks forward to the Executive building on Scotland’s economic success by investing in jobs and skills, promoting a stable and competitive environment for enterprise and encouraging the growth of new businesses. 5.00 pm Decision Time BUSINESS BULLETIN 24/1999 Thursday 24 June 1999 Section B – Business Programme As agreed by the Parliament on 17 June Friday 2 July 9.30 am Question Time 10.00 am Open Question Time followed by, no later than 10.15 am Scottish Executive Business BUSINESS BULLETIN 24/1999 Thursday 24 June 1999 Section E – Written questions lodged on 23 June 1999 S1W-158 Michael Matheson: To ask the Scottish Executive (a) to detail for each Sheriffdom the number of individuals reported over the last three years to the Procurator Fiscal’s service regarding contraventions of the misuse of drugs legislation relating to the possession of cannabis or cannabis resin; (b) to specify the number dealt with by summary complaint, fixed penalty notice or warning letter over this period and (c) to specify the guidelines for selecting which of these courses of action is to be followed. S1W-184 Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to extend the list of communities it will visit in its fact finding mission on poverty and deprivation, as announced by Ms Wendy Alexander in Scottish Office press release 1094/99, to include remote rural areas. S1W-185 Bruce Crawford: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider ensuring that an ambulance service is based in Kinross on a twenty-four hour cover basis. S1W-186 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will, after 1 July, detail the total finance it is making available, directly or indirectly, to the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit Scheme (CERT), all past, current and projected future expenditure on the scheme on an annual basis, and the timetable for the approval, implementation, construction and completion of the scheme. S1W-187 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding or resources it intends to make available to East Lothian Council’s education department to improve education and safety for pupils and staff. S1W-188 Mr Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to carry out any investigation into the current management and operation of East Lothian Council’s education department. S1W-189 Paul Martin: To ask the Scottish Executive to confirm what measures it plans to take to tackle damp housing in Scotland and in particular in Glasgow Springburn. S1W-190 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive what actions it intends to take after 1 July to end discrimination against single people in respect of the services delivered within its own areas of responsibility. S1W-191 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish details of the status of its evaluation of the proposed new Glasgow South orbital road. S1W-192 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish an updated forecast of population trends in Scotland over the next thirty years. S1W-193 Michael Russell: To ask the Presiding Officer whether provision will be made for the inclusion of gaelic, in a meaningful and not token way, in the opening ceremonies and events of 30 June and 1 July. S1W-194 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to undertake a study into the impact on road traffic on the A77 and B764 roads of the proposed extraction of timber from Whitelee Forest near Fenwick in Ayrshire. S1W-195 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish details of any representations it receives in respect of the role of the voluntary sector in tackling social exclusion. S1W-196 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to seek representation on the UK Oil and Gas Industry Task Force. S1W-197 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive if it intends to review the scope and availability of concessionary travel for elderly and retired people. S1W-198 Fiona McLeod: To ask the Presiding Officer what budgetary provision has been made to allow the 73 partner libraries to provide open access to the official publications of the Parliament. S1W-199 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to increase the monetary limit of £750 applying to small claims actions in Scotland S1W-200 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to introduce measures to reduce the amount of police time spent waiting to appear as witnesses in criminal trials. S1W-201 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to increase staffing levels of the Procurator Fiscal service in order to reduce the amount of time spent by police officers waiting to appear as witnesses in criminal trials. S1W-202 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to appoint permanent Sheriffs in order to reduce the amount of time spent by police officers waiting to appear as witnesses in Scottish criminal trials. S1W-203 Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to initiate a feasibility study before making a decision regarding the preferred road route for the transport of felled timber from Whitelee Forrest in East Ayrshire. S1W-204 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to appoint an officer to promote the development of the Gaelic language and to be responsible for liaison with interested organisations and co-ordination of Gaelic issues within the Scottish Administration. S1W-205 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make a statement on its role in the New Deal for Communities. S1W-206 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate of the financial contribution the West Highland Way makes to the Scottish economy each year and the cost of necessary repairs to it. S1W-207 Andrew Wilson: To ask the Presiding Officer what plans the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has to implement the recommendations of paragraph 81 on page 172 of the Consultative Steering Group Report. S1W-208 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to grant the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Law Society of Scotland competence to make interest payments on overdue accounts under the Scottish Legal Aid schemes and whether it intends to authorise ex gratia payments where legal aid or advice and assistance accounts are not settled within 30 days. S1W-209 Alex Neil: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to request the Raptor Working Group to include racing pigeons in the list of protected species. S1W-210 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to provide a list of the members of the Scottish Valuation and Rating Committee, and whether it intends to appoint a representative from each of the Federation of Small Businesses, the Forum of Private Business, and the Chambers of Commerce to the Committee. S1W-211 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to upgrade the A95. S1W-212 Fergus Ewing: To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to upgrade the remaining single track sections of the A830 Fort William to Mallaig Road. BUSINESS BULLETIN 24/1999 Thursday 24 June 1999 Section F – Motions and amendments The full text of all outstanding motions and amendments will appear in the Business Bulletin every Monday. Items marked with an asterisk* are new or have been altered. Asterisks in the text show the extent of alterations made. *S1M-72 Miss Annabel Goldie: That the Parliament agrees the principle of decentralisation of its activities, calls upon the Scottish Executive to adopt the principle of decentralisation by dispersing Departments of the Scottish Administration and any new operations it institutes throughout Scotland, and further calls upon the Scottish Executive to make representations to Her Majesty’s Government that the principle should be applied by it when instituting any new operation in Scotland. Supported by: Mr David Davidson, Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh, Mr Murray Tosh, David Mundell, David McLetchie. *S1M-70 Alex Neil: That the Parliament calls upon the Scottish Executive to bring forward the planned upgrading of the A77 road between Fenwick and Malletsheugh as a matter of urgency. Supported by: Margaret Jamieson, Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh, Mrs Kay Ullrich,Cathy Jamieson, Mr Kenny MacAskill, Michael Russell, Phil Gallie. *S1M-68.1 Mr John Swinney: As an amendment to the motion (S1M-68) in the name of Henry McLeish leave out from "is falling" to end and insert:-- "remains a grave and ongoing economic and social problem which is not addressed by a partial representation of statistics; and calls on the Executive to develop an economic strategy that has long term sustainable growth in the economy and jobs as its focus and addresses the need to: a. recognise small businesses as the engine of growth in the economy and the labour market and tackles the need to improve entrepreneurship and business start-up, survival and expansion with particular emphasis on reducing business rates; b. develop cohesive economic development structures through greater synergy between agencies involved in economic development, inward investment, exporting and tourism and to gain maximum benefit from Scotland’s external representation; c. produce compelling evidence that the New Deal is delivering long-term structural change in the labour market that will be sustained when the New Deal programme has concluded, and d. generate competitive advantage for companies in Scotland." Supported by : Fergus Ewing, Mr Duncan Hamilton, Alex Neil, Ms Sandra White. *S1M-56.1 Irene McGugan: As an amendment to the motion (S1M-56) in the name of Mr John Munro leave out "appropriate" and insert "Audit". Supported by: Mr Kenny MacAskill, Brian Adam, Micheal Russell, Fiona McLeod, Mr Duncan Hamilton *S1M-56.2 Irene McGugan: As an amendment to the motion (S1M-56) in the name of Mr John Munro leave out all from "the award" to end and insert "all aspects of the finance, construction and operation of the Skye Bridge, including the relevant toll order and assignation statement". Supported by Mr Kenny MacAskill, Brian Adam, Michael Russell, Fiona McLeod, Mr Duncan Hamilton. S1M-67 Roseanna Cunningham* S1M-57 Roseanna Cunningham* S1M-54 Alex Fergusson* S1M-33 Roseanna Cunningham* S1M-32 Roseanna Cunningham* S1M-18 Roseanna Cunningham* BUSINESS BULLETIN 24/1999 Thursday 24 June 1999 Section I – Progress of Parliamentary business Subordinate Legislation in Progress Negative Instruments (Date of laying) Subject to annulment until 16 September— The Scotland Act 1998 (Agency Arrangements) (Specification) Order 1999 (1999 No. 1512) (10 June) Committee Business in Progress (Dates for previous proceedings) (Dates for current proceedings) (Provisional dates for future proceedings) Note: A full agenda including details of location and timings, will be published on the day of the meeting Audit Committee: (23 June) Audit and Finance Committees: First Joint Meeting (30 June) Education, Culture and Sport Committee: First meeting (29 June) Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee: (23 June) Equal Opportunities Committee: (22 June) European Committee: (23 June) Finance Committee: (22 June) Health and Community Care Committee: First meeting (29 June) Justice and Home Affairs Committee: First meeting (29 June) Local Government Committee: First meeting (30 June) Procedures Committee: (22 June) (29 June) Public Petitions Committee: First meeting (29 June) Rural Affairs Committee: (22 June) (29 June) Social Inclusion, Housing and Voluntary Sector Committee: First Meeting (30 June) Standards Committee: (22 June)(30 June) Subordinate Legislation Committee: First Meeting (29 June) Transport and Environment Committee: First Meeting (30 June) BUSINESS BULLETIN 24/1999 Thursday 24 June 1999 Announcements Amendment to forms for Parliamentary Questions and Motions Members’ attention is drawn to an amendment to the forms for lodging Parliamentary Questions and motions. Now that members have lodged statements for the Register of Members’ Interests they are reminded that relevant interests must be declared in any proceedings of the Parliament. Accordingly, when lodging Parliamentary Questions and motions, members should complete the section of the form which asks if the member has a registered interest which relates to the question or motion. Members should give a brief description of the interest in the box provided on the form. Members’ Business The Parliamentary Bureau has agreed that in future members will be asked by the clerks, when they lodge notice of a motion, to indicate whether they wish the motion to be debated during the periods allocated after Decision Time for Members’ Business. If a member so indicates, the motion will appear in the Business Bulletin with the symbol " # " after the motion number. The Parliamentary Bureau will consider all motions of which notice is lodged and recommend which of these motions will be debated during Members’ Business. Members will be aware that debates taken during Members’ Business are concluded without any question being put. Titles in Motions The Parliamentary Bureau has agreed that motions should appear in the Business Bulletin with short titles indicating the subject matter of the motion. From Friday 25 June, these titles will appear after the name of the MSP lodging the motion. In Bulletins published on Tuesdays to Fridays, the short title will also appear when additional names of support appear next to motion numbers, or notices of amendments are listed. This should make it easier to trace the original motion to which these entries relate. Amendments Amendments to motions S1M-67 and S1M-71 of which notice has been lodged by 4.30 pm on Wednesday 23 June will be considered for selection by the Presiding Officer. Notices of amendments to motion S1M-68 should be lodged with the Chamber Office by 12 noon on Thursday 24 June in order to be considered for selection. Supplement to Business Bulletin 24/1999 Thursday 24 June 1999 Section A – Daily Business List 9.30 am Motion by Mr Alex Salmond: Privatisation of Public Services— S1M-67 Mr Alex Salmond: That the Parliament condemns the privatisation of health, education, transport and other public services through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) schemes; notes the mounting body of evidence that PFI and PPP, introduced by the Conservative Government and continued by the Labour Government, are an inefficient and expensive method of funding vital public services which also undermine the pay and conditions of public service staff; calls upon the Scottish Ministers to disclose the annual expenditure commitments associated with each public project involving private finance, and the rate of return that private partners receive for the capital that they commit; urges the Scottish Ministers to examine alternatives to such private financing, and calls on the Scottish Ministers to bring forward proposals to introduce Scottish Public Service Trusts. The Presiding Officer has selected the following amendment— S1M-67.1 Mr Jack McConnell: As an amendment to the motion (S1M-67) in the name of Mr Alex Salmond leave out from "condemns" to end and insert "supports the provision of high quality health, education, transport and other public services; agrees that public/private partnerships will continue to be one of the ways used to increase innovation and investment in public services where this approach represents best value; calls on the Executive to continue to work to improve the operation of public/private partnerships and seek opportunities for new types of partnership and flexible contracts which will allow assets, when appropriate, to revert to public ownership, and recognises its use in delivering high quality public services while protecting the interests of the community as indicated in the Partnership for Scotland." 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/businessBulletin/bb-99/bb-24-06.htm Information about document and author: Text Text audience General public: Audience size: 1000+ Text details Method of composition: Wordprocessed Year of composition: 1999 Word count: 5337 General description: Business Bulletin. See http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/businessBulletin/index.htm Text medium Web (webpages, discussion boards, newsgroups, chat rooms): Text publication details Published: Publisher: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Publication year: 1999 Place of publication: www.scottish.parliament.uk Text setting Government/politics: Text type Prose: nonfiction: Author Author details Author id: 908 Surname: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body