Plenary, 17 Jun 2009

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Official Report 402KB pdf

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Business Motions

The next item of business is consideration of motion S3M-4408, in the name of Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, which seeks to make a substitution in standing orders for the purpose of allowing the Parliament to meet at 9 am on Thursday 25 June 2009.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees that "9:00" be substituted for "9:15" in Rule 2.2.3 for the purpose of allowing the meeting of the Parliament on Thursday 25 June 2009 to begin at 9.00 am.—[Bruce Crawford.]

Motion agreed to.

The next item of business is consideration of business motion S3M-4409, also in the name of Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, which seeks to suspend standing orders for the purpose of members' business on Thursday 25 June 2009.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees that Rule 5.6.1(c) of Standing Orders be suspended for the purpose of Members' Business on Thursday 25 June 2009.—[Bruce Crawford.]

Motion agreed to.

The next item of business is consideration of a further business motion, S3M-4410, in the name of Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, which sets out a business programme.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees the following programme of business—

Wednesday 24 June 2009

9.15 am Time for Reflection

followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions

followed by Stage 3 Proceedings: Climate Change (Scotland) Bill

2.30 pm Continuation of Stage 3 Proceedings: Climate Change (Scotland) Bill

followed by Business Motion

followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions

5.00 pm Decision Time

followed by Members' Business

Thursday 25 June 2009

9.00 am Parliamentary Bureau Motions

followed by Scottish Labour Party Debate: Calman Commission Report

followed by Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee Debate: Hybrid Bills

11.40 am General Question Time

12 noon First Minister's Question Time

followed by Members' Business

2.15 pm Themed Question Time

Health and Wellbeing

2.55 pm Ministerial Statement: End Year Flexibility

followed by Stage 1 Debate: Arbitration (Scotland) Bill

followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions

5.00 pm Decision Time

Wednesday 2 September 2009

2.30 pm Time for Reflection

followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions

followed by Scottish Government Business

followed by Business Motion

followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions

5.00 pm Decision Time

followed by Members' Business

Tuesday 3 September 2009

9.15 am Parliamentary Bureau Motions

followed by Scottish Government Business

11.40 am General Question Time

12 noon First Minister's Question Time

2.15 pm Themed Question Time

2.55 pm Scottish Government Business

followed by Parliamentary Bureau Motions

5.00 pm Decision Time

followed by Members' Business—[Bruce Crawford.]

Motion agreed to.

The next item of business is consideration of business motion S3M-4411, in the name of Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, which sets out a timetable for stage 1 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees that consideration of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1 be completed by 18 December 2009.—[Bruce Crawford.]

It is almost exactly a year since the Parliament voted against the financial resolution of the Creative Scotland Bill, which resulted in that bill falling. At the time, all parties in the chamber were willing to work with the Government to find the best way of rescuing and taking forward the legislation for creative Scotland and we were constantly assured that the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill would be the quickest way of doing that. In fact, we were promised that the bill would appear in February, but it did not appear until 28 May.

We are now being told that stage 1 of the bill will not be completed until 18 December 2009, which is just before the Christmas recess. Actually, I think that the Government must mean 17 December, which is the last sitting day before that recess. That means that stage 2 cannot commence until at least 19 January 2010 and that the earliest that stage 3 can be held is 3 February if—and only if—the lead committee requires only a day to consider stage 2 amendments. As a result, the earliest that royal assent can be given is 3 March. That means that creative Scotland cannot be in place by next April, despite Mike Russell's promise in his statement of 2 April that

"Creative Scotland will come into being in the first half of next year—subject, of course, to the final decision of Parliament."—[Official Report, 2 April 2009; c 16426.]

It seems unlikely that it will come into being until very late in the first half of next year, at best.

Creative Scotland has run into more and more delays because the Government is unwilling to work with other parties on resolving the situation. Why is it taking so long for the legislation to come forward, and why cannot the Parliament resolve creative Scotland's problems to ensure that we get that vital body in place to help our cultural sector and our cultural bodies a lot sooner than this Government is managing to do through its incompetence?

I do not think that Mr Smith's speech actually challenged the motion, so I am not sure that it was in order as far as the process is concerned. However, I will respond to the points about the process.

When the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill was put before the Parliamentary Bureau this week, all party members of the bureau agreed the timetable. Indeed, before it reached the bureau, it was agreed with the Finance Committee, the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee, the Health and Sport Committee and the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee. I should also point out that a deadline is only a deadline; it all depends on what the parliamentary committees do and the amount of scrutiny that they wish to undertake, but the time allocated does not need to be fully exhausted.

In any case, what Mr Smith has told the chamber is far from new. Back in January 2009, John Swinney wrote to the Presiding Officer, clearly explaining that the implications of the delay to creative Scotland would depend on the outcome of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill, and saying that it would be fully established in the first half of 2010. I do not think that anything has changed, so I do not know why we are having this debate.

Before I put the question, let me say that I consider Mr Smith's speech to be perfectly within the allowable parameters.

The question is, that S3M-4411, in the name of Bruce Crawford, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, which sets out a timetable for stage 1 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill, be agreed to.

Motion agreed to,

That the Parliament agrees that consideration of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1 be completed by 18 December 2009.

The next item of business is consideration of business motion S3M-4412, in the name of Bruce Crawford on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, setting out an extension of the timetable for stage 1 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees that consideration of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1 be extended to 30 October 2009.—[Bruce Crawford.]

Motion agreed to.