Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive’s legal advisers have advised that the speed of the litigation has been a product of the number of parties to the proceedings, the complexity of the pleadings and the difficulty in obtaining an early date at which the various parties’ counsel were all available.

We have been considering, in conjunction with Caledonian MacBrayne, future infrastructure and vessel investment requirements as part of the development of the final tender specification for the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services tendering exercise. I hope to make an announcement shortly about future investment in new vessels and related harbours infrastructure following our consideration of a number of investment appraisals undertaken by the company.

Increasing numbers of students are completing social work training.

In 1999, 397 graduated as qualified social workers;

in 2000, 351;

in 2001, 340;

in 2002, 373, and

in 2003, 469.

The Fast-Track Graduate Recruitment Scheme may add up to 150 further entrants per year to 2007 and on this basis, total numbers graduating as qualified social workers should rise to as many as nearly 700 per year over the next three-year period.

Current vacancies are around 600. This fact, coupled with the significant growth of social worker posts in recent years, means that it is not possible to say for certain that the requirements of social work departments will all be fully met in the next three years. Resolving recruitment and retention issues has never been seen as short-term and ministers have stated on many occasions that only a sustained commitment will achieve the objective of a confident and competent workforce of sufficient numbers.

Figures from Universities and Colleges Admissions Services show the following:

Year	No of Mature Students (25 yrs+)	Percentage of Total Intake	Total Intake
2000	229	61.9%	370
2001	274	63.4%	432
2002	280	53.4%	524
2003	325	58%	560

In the light of the recent Spending Review, I have agreed that the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency may invite tenders to replace the Fisheries Protection Vessels VIGILANT and NORNA.

During September and October this year I visited BAE Systems Naval Ships on the Clyde and Babcock BES in Rosyth. On both occasions I met with Local Management Teams to familiarise myself with the shipyard facilities and be appraised of the local business issues currently facing these companies.

Raising awareness, among both tenants and landlords, is a key element in theExecutive’s drive to improve standards in private rented housing.

At the end of August I launched an advertising campaign to encourage tenants and landlords to find out more about their rights and responsibilities. The advertising directs people to a new website, “Better Renting Scotland .com”.

Road Orders giving legalauthority for construction of three new roundabouts at Port Glasgow town centrecame into force on 23 July 2004. Negotiations with the developers progressing thePort Glasgow town centre redevelopment scheme on the details of the work to thetrunk road are expected to conclude shortly. Currently, the developer anticipatesthat construction of the scheme will commence towards the end of November 2004.

The Scottish Legal ServicesOmbudsman’s written report on a complaint, or Opinion, sets out herrecommendation on a case, and is sent only to the complainant, the practitionerand the professional body as required by section 34A of the Law Reform(Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990. The Ombudsman’s annual reportsfor 2002-03 and 2003-04 record that the Law Society of Scotland accepted mostof her recommendations to reconsider its decision, or re-investigate acomplaint, and that the Faculty of Advocates refused to accept a particularrecommendation in one case in 2002-03 and in two cases in 2003-04.

The Ombudsman can also makeadvisory recommendations to the professional bodies in her annual report abouttheir procedures for, and methods of, dealing with complaints. Section 34B of the 1990 act requires the professional bodies to consider such recommendationsand to notify the Ombudsman of the results of that consideration and any actionwhich they have taken, or propose to take, in consequence of the recommendation.The Ombudsman normally records in her annual report the responses made by theprofessional bodies to previous advisory recommendations and it is clear fromprevious reports that the majority of such recommendations have been acceptedand implemented in recent years.

We are developing a reformagenda on complaints handling by the legal profession which builds on therecommendations made by the former Justice 1 Committee. We will issue a publicconsultation paper at the end of the year on firm proposals to improve thecomplaints handling system and to enhance the powers of the Ombudsman.