Committees

The Justice 1 Committee convened on Thursday 9th to discuss the draft stage 1 report of the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Bill in private and agreed to various amendments.

The Justice 2 Committee devoted much of its time to the Fire (Scotland) Bill. It was agreed to defer further discussion on the matter of prisoner escort and custody services contract until the publication of reports by the Auditor-General and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

Parliament opened, on Tuesday 7th September 2004, with a statement by the First Minister setting out the Executive’s 2004-2005 Legislative Programme.

Two new bills to protect Scottish children are to be introduced: the Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences Bill and the Prevention of Female Genital Mutilation Bill.

The Licensing Bill will radically overhaul alcohol licensing “to support safer socialising and help break the link between alcohol and crime” (Briefing).

In this Parliamentary year the Scottish Executive intends to:

• consult on a new Scottish Police Bill that will increase “the powers police officers have to deal with knife and violent crime, build on the success of the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency, reform the complaints system and put common police services on a statutory footing
• publish proposals to reduce offending in the autumn and ensure that legislation is introduced as early as possible in 2005.

On the following day the Minister for Justice led the debate on these proposals by asserting that the Executive’s programme is “the most ambitious and sustained reform of our justice services for a generation” putting public safety at the heart of the reforms.

During the debate MSPs raised the following issues: fear of crime; the rise in prison population; privatisation of prison escorts; the proposed single correctional agency and the delivery of criminal justice social work; family courts; unit fines; periodic detention; increases in certain crimes; the McInnes review especially the propoal to abolish lay justices; extra police on our streets; the direct election of police conveners; honesty in sentencing; resourcing alternatives to custody; the reduction of short term prison sentences; Operation Youth Advantage; the use of prison as an effective punishment for serious crime; crime as a scourge on communities; restorative justice; rehabilitation of prisoners; succesful multi-agency working in Fife; and prioritisation of
the interests of victims rather than
offenders.