The Scottish Government

Legislative Programme 2005

Statement by First Minister Jack McConnell on Executive's Legislative Programme

Scottish Parliament

Holyrood, Edinburgh

Presiding officer.

Today, I want to make a statement outlining the Executive's programme until 2007.

It is a programme:
• for justice and respect
• to ensure no child is left behind or held back
• for health improvement
• and for growing economic prosperity for all of Scotland to share

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A programme based on a vision of a strong and ambitious Scotland and a Scotland where today's opportunities are not just available to some but accessible by all Scots whatever their background or culture.

It is a tough and challenging series of actions for the remaining 19 months of this parliament.

But first Presiding Officer. This is the first time parliament has met since G8 Scotland. The outcome of that summit surpassed the expectations of many.

For Africa in particular, significant progress was made. And I am proud of the way in which Scotland responded - to what was an incredibly challenging week.

I would like to put on record my thanks to all those who made it such a success. The police, the organisers of the Make Poverty History demonstrations - and those politicians on all sides of the chamber who contributed to the welcome given to all whose who came. The leaders, their entourages, the media and the peaceful campaigners - who came in their thousands - saw the best of Scotland.

And my thanks to all those who have supported our efforts to refresh Scotland's connection with Malawi.

We will mobilise their enthusiasm and humanity, and help the people of Malawi improve their country and their lives.

Reforming Justice

While the summer of 2005 will go down in history as a summer of unrivalled profile for our small country; it has also been a summer where we have seen tragedy. In London, in New Orleans, and closer to home too. Yesterday I sent a message of sympathy to the governors of the Southern states most affected by Hurricane Katrina. There, in London, and elsewhere, families affected by national disasters or terrorism are in our thoughts.

Scotland can be proud of our police forces and our justice system. But times have changed and crimes have changed.

At the heart of this government's justice policy is a vision to build safer, stronger communities. To convict the guilty and acquit the innocent. To support the victim. To punish the offender. And more than ever before to give the offender the chance to re-habilitate and make good the wrong they have done.

To restore respect in the law, in communities and within the individual.

This government is renewing and modernising the Scottish justice system. From top to bottom, beginning to end, methodically and systematically.

Already we have:

The Bonomy reforms of the High Court

• New laws on anti social behaviour

• The management of offenders bill

• The Nicolson review of licensing laws

• Action on environmental crime

• more police back on the streets, with community wardens to back them up

• the lowest levels of recorded crime for a generation - and the highest clear up rates on record

Now, there is no excuse for non action against the misery of disorder, vandalism and antisocial behaviour. There are Anti Social Behaviour Orders, Parenting orders and new powers for the police to disperse groups of persistently disorderly people. And they should be used.

We have acted to protect the public from sexual offenders, and we will shortly publish the report of the Professor Irving's report and outline the steps we will take to manage them more effectively in the community.

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We are tackling serious organised crime - capturing record levels of drugs from the dealers; seizing their assets and emptying their bank accounts too.

We are also working within the UK and abroad to ensure that Scotland is fully engaged in the war against terror.

But that was only the first two years Today, I can announce the next steps in our root and branch reform to deliver justice and re-establish respect.

This month we will introduce a Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice Bill to improve police effectiveness and further improve community safety.

This legislation will introduce football banning orders, mandatory drug testing for people arrested on drug related crimes. It will double the maximum penalty for carrying a knife, prevent the anti-social use of fireworks and identify suspects of crimes more effectively.

The conduct, organisation and professionalism shown by Scotland's police officers during G8 Scotland demonstrated the world class policing standards we have in Scotland. Their job is tough and complex - handling disorder and thuggery at one end of the spectrum to sophisticated organised crime at the other. This bill will help and support them protect the public.

We will strengthen the work of the highly effective SDEA. It will be renamed the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency to reflect its fight against all forms of international and organised crime.

And today Presiding Officer, I can announce that this bill will include new ways for local councils to impose conditions on marches and parades.

Sectarianism is a stain on Scotland and for me, taking on, challenging and beating the sectarian bigots - is one of the most lasting changes we can make.

I know the difference between a march and parade that is riddled with prejudice and hate - and a march or parade of tolerant, law-abiding people. And I believe the vast majority of Scots can see it too.

Enough is enough. We will give more powers to councils to apply conditions to the march. And any failure to meet them will jeopardise future applications.

And ultimately, if there is a proven record of disorder, violence and displays of sectarian hate - then councils will be able to - and their communities will expect them to - ban that march in future years.

Early next year we will introduce a bill that will improve our system of summary justice.

The first priority in this legislation is to reform and improve our systems for the bail or remand of individuals accused of crimes. Our objectives are to make the granting of bail more difficult to serious, dangerous and sexual offenders, and to make the punishment of breaches of bail more severe and consistent. To re-establish respect for the law.

We will give courts more ways of imposing conditions on bail. We will put in statute, on the face of the bill, factors that will count against the granting of bail. And in light of the new legislation, the Lord Advocate will issue new guidance to procurators fiscal and the police.

Ultimately the decision to grant bail rests with the judge. But I want to be very clear. Public safety is paramount and our package will make it easier for the court to protect the public from serious and violent criminals.

We will also take action to improve the quality of the lay justice system, make fine collection and enforcement simpler and give prosecutors more options in handling cases.

The bill will help reduce re-offending by the speedy and more appropriate handling of offences.

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Following further advice from the Sentencing Commission, we will introduce a Sentencing Bill. This Bill will help ensure that the punishment fits the crime.

The Sentencing Commission is dealing with early release as a priority. We expect a report by the end of the year and, building on that work, we will draw up comprehensive proposals and move quickly.

We are working closely with the UK government to strengthen the law on firearms, particularly airguns.

This is without question the right way forward.

The benefits of consistency in gun law across borders far outweigh any 'go it alone' approach. The Home Office are in the final stages of considering our proposals and we expect to be able to announce details of new restrictions soon.

We will legislate to create a Scottish Human Rights Commission and we will reform legal aid and the way we deal with complaints against lawyers.

We will introduce a Bill to place the reformed judicial appointments system on a statutory footing, making appointments more open and independent but also setting out the arrangements for removal of a judge from office on grounds of inability, neglect of duty or misbehaviour.

Leaving no child behind; holding no child back

We know that criminal behaviour in adulthood often has its origins in childhood and adolescence. Disrespect for the rules of our society most often starts in youth.

So when there are warning signs, our public services must be able to act quickly.

So next year, we will legislate to modernise and improve our Children's Hearings system.

We will reduce paperwork and streamline activity. We will require that agencies work together and parents face up to their responsibilities.

By challenging offending behaviour and addressing the needs of each young person, we help them help themselves.

But, for the small core of prolific and persistent youngsters who undermine themselves and their communities, we will meet persistence with persistence.

Vulnerable young people

Most young Scots have supportive families. They are motivated and are exploiting the new opportunities now available to them both in school and out.

But there are some children who are vulnerable - perhaps because the adults in their lives have let them down, or because their family unit has broken down.

We will modernise our adoption law.

We will listen to the consultation, but the legal framework must be reformed if we are to improve stability and security for children.

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And our efforts to do even better for our most vulnerable children do not end there.

We will push forward our plans to introduce a tough new inspection system for our child protection services. We will strengthen inspection powers to make sure inspectorates can work together effectively in the interests of securing improved protection for children.

This will be a major step forward in improving our services and making sure no vulnerable child slips through the net.

Schools

The best opportunities are created by ensuring every child has access to learning and knowledge.

Scottish schools are high performing - and recent exam results show steady improvement across all qualifications.

Primary school children are benefiting from the biggest school investment programme for over a century; primary class sizes have been reduced to an all-time low; and there are better supports than ever for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Young people are being nurtured, developed and stretched by increasingly professional teachers enjoying more support than at any other time; with increased attention to the transition into secondary school.

But, we know there is more to do.

Last autumn, we unveiled the most comprehensive modernisation programme of our secondary schools for a generation - opening up more choice for our young people, and also creating Scotland's first 20 Schools of Ambition.

They will transform ambitious schools, creating more confident and ambitious youngsters. Changes to the curriculum, to assessment, to teaching and management, and to out of school activities will all raise standards and achievement.

And when schools and parents work together, children do better. So we need to reform engagement with parents too.

So, in this parliamentary session, we will introduce legislation to provide for a more inclusive and flexible system of parental involvement in schools.

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The new legislation will build on the experience of School Boards and allow parents more choice and freedom to adapt and develop their representation in school.

Existing, successful Boards will have improved powers, and in other schools, new arrangements will involve more parents in their children's learning.

We want more and more parents across Scotland to be able to shape decisions affecting their local schools - and our legislation will put a duty on every head teacher to provide a report at least once a year to the parents in their school. Not only to report annually on the school's performance - but to set out each year their ambitions for the school - how it can and how it will improve.

This new system will help give every parent in Scotland a better understanding of their own child's education, a greater sense of attachment to their child's school and a clear route to voice their opinions and be heard.

We believe that every parent should be involved, valued and welcome in the life of their school - and, that if they should have a complaint, they have a right to get that complaint heard in the most effective way possible.

Our school inspection system is based on a top down approach - where it is the inspectorate themselves who decide which school is to be inspected. But I can announce today, we will give new parent bodies a statutory right to request an inspection from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education when they have outstanding concerns that the school or local authority have not been able to resolve satisfactorily.

At any one time, some 35,000 young people in Scotland between 16 and 19 are not in education, employment or training.

In a Scotland where growing the economy is our top priority, and where we value the contribution that everyone can make towards this aim, we simply cannot afford this waste of potential.

We must re-engage these young people and help them realise their potential - by offering them more and better opportunities in the school system and beyond 16. And we will support them in meeting that challenge.

We will reach out to our disaffected young people - and provide them with exciting new opportunities through vocational learning and better school - college links.

And the further growth and development of Project Scotland - the UK's first national, full time youth volunteering scheme - will play a critical role in re-engaging many youngsters.

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Health improvement and health reform

Since May 2003, we have directed record investment to Scotland's health service.

Through reforms to service delivery, and by setting priorities:

• deaths from cancer, strokes and heart disease are all down
• survival rates for childhood cancer are up
• the longest waiting times have been cut
• and more care is being delivered in local communities where new clinics deliver quicker and better care

Our aim shouldn't be just to treat more and more sick people. A better NHS alone will not deliver a better national health.

We know Scotland is one of the unhealthiest nations in Europe. And we know the poorest families suffer the most.

To turn this around for future generations, we know that we need to help our young people in particular make the right decisions about their health.

Our schools are central to our drive to build the lifestyles and habits that will support good health.

Today, almost half of all primary pupils now take school meals. Primary schools provide free fruit for P1 and P2 pupils while most schools also provide fresh, chilled drinking water.

I know from my visits to schools that there are big changes going on in the school canteen.

Schools are sourcing good, healthy food locally. Many have set up healthy tuck shops. Others have removed all branded vending machines selling fizzy drinks.

There is a chance here that this generation is breaking the Scottish culture of unhealthy living. And this government wants to increase momentum.

We will during this Parliamentary year consult on a Health Promotion, Nutrition and Schools Bill.

We want to strengthen our approach - and we will, create new powers to remove products like 'fizzy drinks' that are so damaging to child health.

Today, I am also delighted to announce over £70 million for Hungry for Success over the next three years to allow local authorities to continue the work they have started with our initial investment.

Our approach to school dinners has been described as 'revolutionary'.

But we want to take the revolution much further, to keep Scotland at the leading edge in improving nutrition to better child health.

If all we had done was made school dinners free - however laudable the aims of that proposal are, we would not be making the difference we are.

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We want all children to become healthier - and to do that we are targeting recourses to address the issues caused by poverty. We target those most in need - and we provide a better service to everyone else too.

And this is not just about school dinners - our plans will go further to take forward this agenda for better national health..

However, there is one thing that we need to beat before we can truly transform our health.

Smoking is the greatest single, preventable cause of ill-health and premature death in Scotland.

And, this year, our landmark legislation will begin protecting people in pubs, clubs and other public places around Scotland from the dangers of passive smoking. 13,000 Scots die each year because of smoking related diseases.

This parliamentary year, public places in Scotland will become smoke free - and our national health will be all the better for it.

One of the main ambitions of this coalition government has been to give protection to all those in Scotland who need it.

We legislated to protect our vulnerable adult population in the early days of this parliament, but we now need to add to this legislation to give this group the protection they need and deserve.

This year, we are taking further action to protect our vulnerable children - and we'll be taking action to protect our vulnerable adults too.

Abuse of vulnerable adults is sickening and will not be tolerated in Scotland.

Adults who are frail, elderly or vulnerable all deserve to live with dignity and to be treated with respect.

Our legislation will plug gaps and help agencies to work together to provide better supports to protect vulnerable adults from abuse of any kind.

Other legislation

The Scottish government will also bring forward Animal Health and Welfare legislation to ensure the highest possible animal health and welfare standards. And we will introduce a Local Government (Electoral Administration and Registration Services) Bill to modernise our legislation and improve security of absent voting.

Growth and prosperity for all Scotland

Presiding Officer. Devolution is no longer in its infancy.

It is time to enter a new phase.

Instead of this place being somewhere that we find Scottish solutions to Scottish problems. This place should be about finding Scottish success through Scottish ambition.

Now, more than ever before, our job is to give Scotland an edge over the competition.

I want to be explicit. I don't want Scotland's success to be defined by our relationship to England. I want our performance to be judged by indicators on a global scale.

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Where we lag behind, we should catch up. And where we are ahead, we should break further away.

We want to be more competitive, more productive, more innovative and with a better quality of life. In many ways, Scotland is already the best, and in others we have some way to go.

Scotland's employment rate is now the best in the UK - and amongst the highest in Europe. 150,000 more Scots have entered employment since the creation of this parliament.

In 1999 there were 1 in 3 Scottish children living in poverty. Now there are 1 in 4 and we are on track to meet our aim of ending child poverty in this generation.

We are providing more new roads, more trains, more new stations resulting in more bus and rail journeys being made. New direct air routes to and from Scotland are making Scotland the first UK destination of choice for many more international travellers.

The research and innovation in our universities is also transforming into commercial success - and we are investing more in those universities than every before. A 30% increase in three years - an investment in the future.

We are backing Scottish companies and Scottish exports by aggressively promoting Scotland abroad. And we are now a place that welcomes Fresh talent - to contribute to our economy and our cultural diversity.

In the coming months, we will conclude our discussions with the Home Office on the implementation of the new UK points based immigration system - and we will make the most of the opportunity to find advantages for Scotland in attracting new talent.

We know that there are more things we must do if we are to grow the economy for all, in all areas of Scotland.

In rural Scotland our draft Crofting Reform Bill will update, simplify and extend existing crofting legislation.

We want to offer more opportunities to individual crofters and crofting communities. And by increasing crofters involvement in land management, we hope to give crofters greater power to shape their futures and make the most of economic opportunities.

We will discuss fully with the crofting interests before the Bill is introduced in final form.

And next summer we will introduce a Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill to improve the regulation of freshwater fisheries, to strengthen the conservation of stocks and to provide a secure basis for Scotland's diverse fishing industries.

In tourism, the Scottish industry's performance is carving out a niche and identity that is paving the way for faster growth.

We have a natural advantage with icons other countries can only dream of - and a history, heritage and culture that resonate across the globe.

We have the scenery, diversity and cities to rival any of our competitors - and, more often than not, surpass them.

But, if we are to continue to attract more and more visitors to Scotland, we need to do as much as we can to support our Tourism industry; rural and urban.

That's why, over this parliamentary term, we will introduce a Tourism Bill to complete the winding up of area tourist boards and set up the VisitScotland network as a single legal entity.

The new network is providing greater financial stability for tourism support; and helping to promote Scotland as a major tourism destination in an increasingly competitive global market.

By establishing VisitScotland in this way, we will help our tourism industry flourish well into the future in our ambition to grow tourism revenues by 50% over the next decade.

This year, we will also modernise the laws of personal bankruptcy and diligence and strike a better balance between the rights of creditors and debtors.

And too many critical transport projects we have planned are taking too long to implement. That's why, next parliamentary session, we will legislate to simplify the process for handling applications for changes with a transport and works bill.

We know that sustainable economic growth needs a modern planning system to speed up decisions, reflect local views and allow quicker decisions for business who want to invest in areas.

A modern planning system will help regenerate areas and help pave the way for new jobs; create safer communities; bring investment to new schools and hospitals. It will help deliver renewable energy, provide water and sewerage infrastructure, and provide affordable housing where it is needed.

Our current planning system does not meet our ambitions for a sustainable, prosperous Scotland. 70% of local plans are over five years old, and 20% are over 15 years old. Our current system is neither effective nor efficient. That has to change.

In June this year, we published a white paper which set out the way forward for Scotland's planning system - and the legislation that we will introduce this year will lay the foundations for a planning system that serves Scotland's aspiration for prosperity, a better environment and greater participation.

The legislation will ensure that planning applications are handled in the most effective way.

It will give councils greater powers to decide some types of application, give local people more of a say in the decisions that affect them and make the appeals process simpler and faster.

This will be a whole new approach that will work in the interests of our communities and our environment - and ensure that we do not miss out on much needed investment into areas.

And finally Presiding Officer there will be two budget bills.

For too long our Scottish economic growth has lagged the rest of the UK. The ambition of this government is to take the actions that will raise our long term growth rate. And there are signs that the Scottish economic growth might be starting to close the gap.

We have been listening hard to what business asks of us. On almost every single count, we have responded to their representations.

We have invested in infrastructure, invested in education and research, we are simplifying the planning system, and we have improved international air routes.

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Now, it is time to secure greater competitive advantage for Scotland.

There is a limit to how long public expenditure can continue growing. These past 8 years have seen incredible increases in public investment. And rightly so. But the balance in Scotland's economy now needs to make a shift

Improving public sector efficiency has a significant part to play in the overall improvement in Scotland's relative productivity. This time last year we announced our efficient government plans. We have exceeded our initial targets for cash savings in the public sector - all of which is being re-invested in the front line.

Business rates are a small determination of overall business costs but at the margin they can be critical. And business tell us they see a real significance in the perception they create too.

Our policy of limiting rate increases to inflation or below, has meant that, compared to England, the burden has been reducing. But now we want to go further.

Because of the efficiency savings we have made, later this month the Finance Ministers will announce the steps to reduce Scotland's business rate poundage in line with England.

And because we want to provide further incentives that give Scotland a competitive advantage, we will consider carefully a specific reduction in business rates for R&D intensive companies.

In doing so, we will make Scotland the most attractive place in the UK to invest in Research and Development - one of the key determinants of improved innovation.

In conclusion. Halfway though a parliamentary session, the easy thing for a coalition government to do is to settle down into the delivery of a partnership agreement.

This programme is intended to break that mould. This coalition has the partnership agreement as a minimum requirement. It does not reflect the scale of all the things we want to do.

Devolution is working for Scotland. We are a country that is on the way back up. And now we are aiming for the to go further.

Our economy can - and will be more successful. More people will share in that success. Young Scots will have an array of opportunities open to them. Our communities will be safer and respect will be restored.

A vision for Scotland - the best small country in the world.

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