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Tuesday, May 05, 2009
This was a very quiet week for justice debate in the Parliament. The Justice Committee considered a new draft of the Coroners and Justice Bill (UK legislation), and there were also a number of questions in the Chamber.
The Justice Committee
Coroners and Justice Bill (UK Parliament legislation)
The Committee was joined by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to give evidence on the Coroners and Justice Bill, which is UK legislation that requires consent from the Scottish Parliament because some areas impact on devolved issues. This was the second time the Committee considered this legislation, and this ‘revised’ draft excluded the more controversial elements relating to data sharing which required the first draft to be redrawn. The parts of the Bill which had not yet been considered by the Committee at earlier stages relate to the Scottish system of investigating deaths and fatal accident inquiries into deaths abroad of members of the armed forces. The Cabinet Secretary answered questions about how the new procedures would come into affect, explaining that the new provisions in the Bill would allow for inquiries to be held in Scotland into the deaths of Scottish service personnel while abroad on active service. Following a request for more information about how cases in line for consideration before the new procedures came into force would be treated, he agreed to come back to the Committee with that information.
Amendments to the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) Bill
The Committee then moved on to consider Stage 2 of the Offences (Aggravated by Prejudice) Bill, in which there was no amendments lodged whatsoever (an occurrence described as ‘unique’ by Bill Aitken). Therefore, the Committee only had to agree a new, longer title, and the Bill will now go back to the Chamber for the final Stage 3 debate.
Subordinate Legislation
Finally, the Committee considered an item of subordinate legislation relating to civil justice, and some negative instruments, which the Committee passed without debate
You can read the full transcripts of the meeting in the Official Report, or watch it on Holyrood.TV. You can also read the briefings relating to the Coroners and Justice Bill in the Committee Papers
The Chamber
General Questions
Implementation of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Act
During general questions this week, Johann Lamont (Lab) asked the Government about the proposed timetable for the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Act, arguing that it needed to come into force as soon as possible, given that the current situation places many voluntary organisations in a difficult position because they are no longer able to receive enhanced checks from Disclosure Scotland, many of which are required before contracts can be drawn up with new employees. The Minister for Children and Young Years, Adam Ingram, said that the Government would introduce a legislative amendment shortly to close this loophole.
During a follow on question, Karen Gillon (Lab) said that a response to an official question had shown that ‘only 5%’ of responses from enhanced disclosures provide any additional material, which she said missed the point entirely, as the purpose of enhanced disclosure was surely to pick up this 5%.
You can read this question in the Official Report
Violence Reduction Unit
Stewart Maxwell (SNP) asked the Minister for Community Safety (Fergus Ewing), about the injury surveillance pilot at Glasgow Royal Infirmary which has been set up by the national violence reduction unit. This scheme was based on a project in Cardiff, which resulted in a 40 per cent reduction in the level of violence as a result of the co–operation between medical staff and police. Mr Maxell wanted to know when the results of the pilot will be made available and if there were any plans to roll the scheme out across more parts of Scotland. The Minister replied that early results from the pilot in the Glasgow Infirmary showed that the approach can be labour intensive and divert staff away from their main duties, and that the Government are therefore supporting a fully electronic system in the NHS Lanarkshire area, and he hinted that this will be rolled out in Scotland ‘in due course’. You can read this question in the Official Report
Written Questions
There was a question about the different laws surrounding underage buying of tobacco and alcohol , a question about tackling alcohol misuse amongst the 15 to 18 age group, and a question about the number of hospital admissions related to alcohol abuse. There was also a question about the progress of the consultation into the Children’s Hearing System and about the number of deaths caused by drugs misuse in the Scottish Borders. There was a question about reports that some Local Authorities have requested courts to revoke community service orders because there is such a large backlog, and more questions about the funding given to local authorities to deliver effective community orders. There were a number of questions about community courts, and about the number of special constables in Scotland over the past 10 years. There were a series of questions about prisons including the number of positive drug tests, the number of prisoners who self–harm, and the number of prisoner on staff assaults in prison. And in a separate question, the number of prisoner on prisoner assaults was also revealed.
Posted by KM
on Tue 5th May 2009
at 9:00 am
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